


As Fast As I Could

by Stenique



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DCU (Movies), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-05-04
Packaged: 2018-03-17 00:56:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3509150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stenique/pseuds/Stenique
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hannah Charles has been best friends with Iris West and Barry Allen since middle school. She knows that whatever happens she can count on them to help her and be there for her. As the years passed became increasingly hard for Hannah to be truthful with her friends, for no particle accelerator could match the storm that has been brewing inside. Can Barry's new power be the salvation she was looking for, or is her enemy something that even super speed can't defeat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Past,The Present,The Future

Present

Normally in these situations you would see a couple outside in the pouring rain hashing out their feelings while some Taylor Swift song plays in the background, but sadly this was not one of those moments. Instead of outside, we are comfortably standing in Joe's living room. Well, as comfortably as two people fighting could be. It is sunny outside and silence fills the air. He is staring at me with disappointment and longing, and I all I can look at is my mud covered converse.

"Where were you?"he said in desperation laced with sadness.  
It was almost unbearable to look him in the eyes as my heart quenched with regret and fear. I couldn't tell him where I went no matter how much I wanted to.

"I can't tell you." I managed to utter as a lone tear slid down my face

"Why? I thought we could tell each other anything."

"If you knew where I went, you would be in danger. I'm trying to protect you Barry"I screamed at him

"You should know better than anyone that I don't need protecting Hannah, if that is really your name."  
It wasn't, but he didn't need to know that. No one needed to know that yet. It was my secret to keep or tell and he was not ready to hear it. I guess he took my silence as an answer.

"I'm trying to understand Hannah, I really am but you're not giving me much to go on."

"I know" I said in a voice much calmer than my previous yelling  
He rubbed his hands down his face and snorted in contemplation"I think you should leave"

"Barry I..."

"NO! I'm done Hannah... I'm done." and he walked out the door leaving me standing there. I should be the one storming out after all he lived here not me, but the only thing that my body was capable of doing was sliding down to sit on the couch and cry.

14 Years Ago

Barry's POV  
Everything was numb as it normally has been since she died. Everyone says that it will get better and time will heal wounds, but it has been months and I'm still bleeding. Iris come running up to me smiling without a care in the world.

" Hey Barry, Have you seen the new girl?"

" There is a new? I haven't seen her" I replied trying to match Iris' enthusiasm.

"Well I had first block her and she is really nice. She is going to sit with us at lunch and you are going to smile and be friendly. Okay. I want her to like me."

"Why is it so important that she likes you?"

"I want a girl best friend. No offense bare, but you are not most ideal person to talk about boys with" she stated

"Fine but you owe me West" I warned her knowing that I could never say no to Iris.  
She waved goodbye as she walked to her next class and I went to mine.

...LUNCH...

I sat down at our usual table and set my bought lunch down on the slightly damp surface. Since living with Joe and Iris I discovered that Joe was not the best at making lunches. Shoving a spoonful of mac n' cheese which was surprisingly not entirely disgusting in my mouth, Iris plopped down next to me and the sight across from me made my spoon stop mid entrance to my mouth. No other words but utterly beautiful could describe the girl Iris had kidnapped, and it felt like those words could never capture the image this girl. I thought Iris was pretty but this new girl put Iris to shame. Her blonde curls cascaded down to her mid back, and light freckles danced on her nose and rosy pink cheeks. I got lost her blue eyes that seemed to sparkle with a secrets never meant to be shared.

"Barry, Barry, Barry!" Iris shouted to snap me out of my trance

" Barry meet Hannah Charles, Hannah meet Barry Allen my best friend." she introduced us

"Nice to meet you Barry" Hannah spoke and it was the most angelic voice I'd ever heard.  
Finally coming back to earth I shook her soft hand and smiled.

"Well now that we all know each other I can tell we are going to be the best of friends" Iris proclaimed  
Hannah kindly smiled although I could tell she felt uncomfortable by Iris' bluntness. I offered her a reassuring smile and could see the appreciation in her eyes. Maybe Iris was right. Maybe we will be the best of friends.

4 Years Later

Barry's POV  
I stood in the mirror looking at my reflection. I should have never listened to Iris, and the more I thought about it, the more I began to rethink my decision. What if she thought I looked stupid or ugly? What if I said something stupid or offensive? What if I tripped or spilt something on her? Oh I think I'm going to be sick.

"Barry! Stop talking to yourself and come downstairs. Your date is here" Iris yelled from downstairs.  
Here goes nothing

...3 Hours Later...

I rushed inside and slammed the door shut behind me. I peeked out the window to make sure she had left before letting out a loud and long sigh of relief.  
"That bad?" a voice that neither belonged to Iris or Joe questioned.

"Ahh!... oh Hannah. What are you doing here?"

"It's Friday. Weekly sleepover with Iris. Wow that date must have really been terrible if it made you forget a tradition that has been in place since we were eleven." she smarted off

"Hahaha very funny" I replied not amused

"No, what's funny is you are fifteen and just went on your first date with a girl you are not remotely interested in and she scared the crap out of you. That's funny."

"I was not scared" I challenged

"Oh really. Then why were you running all the way to the front door hmm?" Hannah knew she had me but she just wanted me to admit it.

"Fine! She scared me and probably scarred me forever. Are you happy now?" I said

"Why would I be happy about that?" she said in a state of seriousness. She crossed the room and gave me a hug.  
It was these moments that reminded me why I loved her so much. Of course I would never tell her that. I guess I would have to savor these moments.  
She punched my arm and began to ascend the stairs ."Don't cry on me Blue Barry"

"Would never dream of it Han Solo" and she gave me a smile that only reassured that whatever happens in the past,present, or future with us, everything is going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this and please review


	2. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Months Earlier

Barry's POV

"Check the math. Your dispersal models don't correlate." I vaguely heard a voice say

"Uh, they do if you factor in the seasonal fluctuations in reproduction cycles."

"What exactly are we debating?" Dr. Wells inquired

" The average number of bugs Barry swallows in a day of running " Cisco replied as if the answer were obvious.

"I look forward to seeing you accept your nobel" Dr. Wells retorted

"Barry? Barry? Are you okay?" Caitlin asks running over to help me. Although I was in serious pain and probably wasn't fully conscious, I managed to get out of the suit and on an examining table while Caitlin fixed me up.

...

"13 fractures just in your hand. You also have a concussion, three cracked ribs, and a bruised spleen. Even with your powers, you'll need a few hours to heal" she said concerned

"What exactly did you hit? " Dr. Wells asked

"A man. A big, bad man. His skin changed when I hit him. Like, it turned to metal"

"Interesting. A man of steel" he replied as if it were some inside joke.

"So you went after a meta-human alone? Dude, why didn't you call us?" Cisco wondered.

"I didn't know what he was. Besides, I was off-duty" I said bashfully

"You're lucky he didn't knock out your teeth" an unknown voice stated

"Yeah, those puppies don't grow back." Cisco added not even noticing the intruding opinion, but later realised that the voice did not come from any of us.

We all turned around to look at the entrance to the lab. I gasped as a ghost from the past stood there as if she belonged here.

"Dr. Charles I began to think that you were ignoring my emails" Dr. Wells said as he moved his chair toward the not so much stranger

"Why would I ever even attempt to ignore you Harrison. If there is one thing I know about you is that you are stubbornly persistent." she gave him a smile

"Hannah!" Caitlin exclaimed as she ran to the girl and hugged her.

"It's good to see you Cait, and I am so sorry about Ronnie. I wanted to come back but you know.."

"It's okay. At least you called. How was Africa?" Caitlin inquired with curiosity

"It was amazing, but enough about me. Why so blue Bare?" She asked me with the same mocking tone she used when we were children.

"Do you two know each other?" Cisco asked putting himself into the conversation.

"Yeah, me and Barry go way back don't we Bare." she said mockingly

"What are you doing here?" the only words I could muster because even after all these years she still left me speechless.

"I asked her to come work at Star Labs. Hannah is one of the best neurologist I have had the privilege to work with. I thought her insight might helps us with the meta-humans" Dr. Wells made clear

"I think that is an excellent idea. Welcome aboard Hannah" Caitlin said happily

"Now that the awkward reunion is over, what were you going to say before I came in Barry" she asked with all seriousness and disregarding everything about our past. Fine. If she wants to play that way the ball is in her court.

"It was strange, the metal man I mean. I feel like I knew him"

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked

"He said something that was familiar, but he's gonna hurt someone if we don't stop him. So how do I fight a guy that's made of steel?"

"We will find a way. Tonight, you heal." Dr. Wells reassured

"Yeah."

"Hannah why don't you keep Barry company while I talk to Dr. Snow and Mr. Ramon about something" Dr. Wells insisted

"Sure" Hannah said with a smile refusing to look at Barry.

Cisco's POV

"So, Dr. Charles is a girl"

"Yes she is a girl. Is that a problem" Dr. Wells asked

"No, just the way you had previously spoken about her I thought that she was a he"

"Cisco" Caitlin said in a disaproving tone

"It's fine. I think she is awesome and hot"

Dr. Wells shook his head as Caitlin rolled her eyes.

Hannah's POV

I stood in the lab room waiting for someone to return. I hope they come back quickly because the longer they leave us in here the shorter the amount of time before we have to talk and I don't want to talk. But I know they aren't coming back anytime soon so I might as well initiate the conversation. What do I even say. Hey Barry, how you have been.I heard you were in coma for nine months. Never going to get that time back. No I can't say that, it would totally rude, but he kind of deserves some rudeness.

"Look I don't want to make this anymore awkward then it already is, so let's let bygones be bygones and move on. I forgive you" Barry broke the silence.

Thank god I did not have to speak first. I thought I would have to...Wait! Let bygones be bygones and move on!Excuse me! If anyone should be forgiving, it should be me. Yeah I should say that.

"If anyone should be forgiving it should be me. You're the one who dumped me" I angrily spoke. Nicely done Hannah, mental pat on the back.

"I only ended things because you were going across the ocean, and you didn't even ask me for my opinion",

"I didn't ask you for your opinion because I knew what you would say and I knew you would be selfish"

"Selfish! Me, selfish! Wow, you really haven't changed at all Hannah"

"I guess not" I huffed out. At least we don't let years of bottled up emotions stay buried. I finally looked him in they eyes and they still made my knees week. I missed him. No matter how much I didn't want to, I truly missed him. I can still remember the day I left and the fight that came before.

7 years ago

Oh, how I'm going to miss this place. I finished packing and put my luggage in the hallway of the apartment. Suddenly, there was knocking at the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Barry. Please open up"

I unlocked the door and opened it. There he stood as cute as the day I met him and his eyes still held the same kind of saddness, but this time his mother's death was not the cause. I was. I moved out of the way so he could come inside. His head was held down and hands we stuck in his pockets.

"Are you finished ignoring me, or did you come to my house just to ignore me some because that is really stupid just like the way you are acting. But if you want to ignore me let me at least get comfortable"

He still stood there motionless with his head down, and now I was becoming desperate for any type of response.

"Barry would you at least look at me, please" I begged, but all he did was stare at my suitcases. I felt guilty that I did not even ask him if he was okay with me going to a college so far away, but I knew he would ask me to stay. And if he asked me to stay, I would because I can't say no to him.

"I think we should break up" he said out of nowhere

"What?"

"Look we're both moving on in our lives, and we don't need one dragging the other down" he said still not looking at me.

"Barry, I know you're upset bu-"

"No you don't know Annie" Barry whispered using my nickname probably for the last time"We're done" and he walked out the door.

NOW

Barry's POV

She looked at me with her puppy dog eyes and I knew I was screwed.

"I missed you Annie" I spoke a name that hadn't left my lips in seven years.

"The feeling is mutual Barry" and she smiled at me. A real genuine Hannah Charles smile, and I got the old feeling that everything was going to be okay with us again.

...

"Hey" Joes commanding voice echoed "What happened to you last night?"

"Got beat up by a steel-plated sociopath. Good times"

"So he is a meta-human?"

Yeah"

"That particle accelerator's the gift that keeps on giving. You okay?"

"Relatively. Any idea who he is?"

"Eddie's taking point while I run down a lead"

"I need you to work with him until I get back"

"Wait, why me?"

"Because he saw something impossible that he's got questions that I can't answer"

"In other words, make up some science-y stuff to throw him off?"

"Exactly"

"Hannah's back in town"

"Really? Hhmm"

"And judging by your reaction I'm guessing you already knew"

"She dropped by the house yesterday to see Iris. I didn't think it was a big deal to bother you with"

"Of course you didn't" I mumbled.

"How did you find out" he asked while looking around my lab

"Dr. Well asked her to work at Starr Labs"

"So she knows about you being the flash"

"Yes and I already told her not to tell Iris, so don't worry"

"Well since everyone is reaquainted, you are coming over for dinner tonight with Iris and Hannah"

This should be interesting.


	3. Just Something

Barry's POV

"Your childhood nemesis is now an unstoppable meta-human. That is seriously messed up" Cisco sympathized

"I had a childhood nemesis. Lexi La Roche. She used to put gum in my hair" said Caitlin

"Jake Puckett. If I didn't let him copy my homework he'd give me a swirly"

"Now that we've established that we're all uber-nerds, what are we gonna do about Tony?" I asked

"Glad you asked. We're gonna train you, man. Karate Kid style. Behold! I call him Girder"

"For the record, not my idea" Caitlin explained

"It was actually Hannah's, but that's not important. Okay, fighting is physics. It's not about strength. It's not about size. It's about energy and power. Channel your speed the right way and you can totally take this bad boy down. Now obviously your Girder is a moving target" Cisco told me

"So I have ice and bandages standing by" After she said that Cisco began to move Girder and I fought. I got a few good punches here and there, but it was not good enough. If I was going to finally beat Tony once and for all, I needed to be stronger. My slight shift in focused caused the thing to hit me knocking me to the ground.

"Woah, what the hell is going on?" Hannah exclaimed as she entered the room.

Groaning "I'm pretty sure I just dislocated my shoulder"

"I said to help him not beat him till he is black and blue. He already has self esteem issues you're just adding more heat to the flame"

"Thank you Hannah for your words of encouragement" I sarcastically said.

"Okay, not gonna lie this is gonna be quick but extremely painful." Caitlin cautioned to me, and I was pretty sure her popping my shoulder back could not possibly hurt more than having it popped out of place.

"Let's do this"

"So Barry, when you said you were off-duty last night, you weren't visiting Iris" Hannah nonchalantly asked like a person who was trying not to act like they cared.

"Again in disguise? 'Cause that would be reckless and a little creepy." added Caitlin

"No" I answered looking at Hannah's wondering stare.

"Good" Caitlin said not completely believing the lie I told, so if Caitlin didn't believe me there was no chance Hannah boughtit. Wait, why do I care if she believes me or not. It is none of her business what I do. Yeah keep telling yourself that Allen I could imagine her saying. Caitlin abruptly and mercilessly pops my shoulder back in place and the pain is excrutiating. Out of the corner of my eye I see Hannah wincing. Oh, she does care.

...

I had just finished talking to Iris at Jitters to make sure she was okay, but there was one more person I needed to see tonight. I ran all the way to her apartment, and as I came to the door I heard singing coming from inside. Oh Gosh. I knocked three times and waited for her to open the door.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with surprised tone instead of the snippy one I've become so used to.

"Well, it's been a long day and I just wanted to see how you were doing" terrible excuse and she knew that

"Oh" she looked at me for about 30 seconds"Do you want to come in?" she asked unsurely

I walked in and admired her place. It wasn't overly fancy, but at the same time it wasn't dull. There was a kitchen area sharing the same room right behind the living room area. There were french doors that I assumed lead to her bedroom, but that hypothesis would have to be tested another day.

"Your home is nice Han"

"How is Iris holding up?"

"Surprising well. You would expect someone who was held against their will to be traumatized, but not Iris"

"Daughter of a cop"

"That is exactly what she said today"

"How are you holding up. It's not everyday that you get to super sonically punch your childhood bully, so you must reveling in that" she said as she went to pull out something from the fridge.

"It was pretty awesome, but my hand still stings a little"

"So, you must not have plans tonight if you have willing come to my humble abode" she smiled"But I'm an opertunist, so there is a tray full of cookies in the stove, two glasses of milk, and a zombie movie marathon on SYFY that is just waiting to be laughed at. What do you say, pal" she playfully punched my shoulder but not the recently dislocated one.

"You baked, you only bake when you're worried about something. I know this to be a fact because when you were waiting for your acceptance letter for that summer internship you baked for a week straight and I gained half my weight. Were you worried about me?"

"No pff. You're speaking nonsense"

"Sure. Well then I would love to eat cookies and watch terrible zombie movies with you"

"That all you had to say Allen and spared me the minute of pointless chit chat. You know I'm never going to get that time back"

"Because so much can happen in a minute"

"You of all people should know that to be true" she said offering me my glass of milk.

I took the glass of milk and hopped over her couch to sit there. I turned on the tv and made myself comfortable. She then came to sit on the other end of the couch putting the plate of cookies between us. I couldn't help but to stare at her in that moment. She was truly amazing and she doesn't even realize.

"'You're doing it again" she suddenly said still looking at the television

"What?"

"Staring at me. You think I don't know when your staring at me Barry, but over the years it has become my sixth sense." she turned her head to look at me

"I cant't help it. You are so beautiful"

"Wow. Where is all this boldness coming from. I mean you get super speed and all of a sudden you're not this mumbling mess"

"Ouch, well there is no point denying the truth" I added

"Okay, let me stop you there. If we are going to be friends, there needs to be ground rules. That means no telling me that I am beautiful or amazing" she turned her whole body towards me to say

"I don't think that's possible"

"Well then we can't be friends" she joking says and laughs. Oh, how I love her laugh.

"Good, I don't want to be your friend"

"What?" she says with hurt in her voice

"Come on Hannah, you have always known that we were never meant to be friends. Always meant to be something more"

"Fine. You're right. We aren't meant to be friends"

"So we're...'

"Something"

"Just something?" I said looking directly into her eyes which was quite difficult considering the lack of light

she grabbed my and gave it a squeeze. She moved the plate that cookies used to sit on and put it on the floor. She moved over to the side of the couch I was on and laid her head against my chest. My arm automatically wrapped around her and she didn't move it. She snuggled into my side as she pulled the blanket up to her and focused again on the movie. I turned my attention back to the movie that I that was as terrible as we predicted. As I started to drift off, I almost didn't catch, but barely above a whisper she uttered

"Just Something"


	4. A Thimble

Hannah's POV

I slowly open my eyes and blink the sleep away. The sunshine is streaming through my windows as always. It's always sunny here in Central City. I move to get up, but there is something solid and warm underneath me. Oh right, zombie movie marathon. We must have both fallen asleep. I slowly get up and away from Barry, so I don't wake him up because when he wakes up, things are going to get complicated. I slowly tip toe to my bedroom and get ready to take a shower.

Barry's POV

I knew Hannah was trying to sneak away. I had actually been awake for a while now, but I didn't want to wake her. She looked so pretty sleeping, so calm and peaceful. I jolted to alert when I heard music. I walked to the bar and noticed her phone was going off. I was not going to answer it because that would be a invasion of privacy, and could possibly ruin our something. I looked at the caller I.D. and it said H.J. Who is H.J?

"Oh Barry, you're still here" she said coming out of her room dressed with wet hair.

"Yeah, I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye" I smiled and she returned it" Who is H.J?" I asked her and she froze for a second but quickly brushed it off. I without my super speed I wouldn't have noticed.

"Just someone I knew back in when doing my residency in Coast City. Not important" she gave me a fake reassuring smile, but I took it. My phone alarm went off.

"I'm late"

"Don't let me keep you. You have a job to do Mr. Allen" she came up to me and put her arms around my neck.

"I do don't I" placing my hands on her hips, "Wouldn't want to be even later"

Her face was just inches from and all I could stare at were her pink lips, but she abruptly shoved me towards the door.

"Well get going" and I ran out of her apartment and back to mine. After I showered I went to Jitters to pick up coffer but the line was long. I flashed around and got everyone their coffees including myself and left. As I was walking to Star Labs a mugger came up to me.

"Wallet. Now" he demanded

Oh, this is awesome. You've got to be kidding me. Hold on, okay? I'm just gonna I'm gonna set this down" I said laughing "I mean, this is crazy. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people in Central City, and out of everyone you could have picked to rob, you pick me."

"What, are you sick? Money, now."

"I just You're really gonna be kicking yourself, man. I mean, if there was an Olympics for bad luck, you didn't just medal, pal. You Michael Phelps-ed" I said joking with the criminal

He began to count to three but before he could do anything I disarmed him and was on my merry way.

Hannah's POV

After Barry left I went for my phone. I redialed the number and waited for him to answer.

"Hello?" and male voice answered

"I thought I asked you to stop calling me"

"You stopped answering his calls. What did you expect? He's trying to contact you any way he can, and I'm just a messenger"

"Well, tell him that I don't want to see or talk to him, and if he finds me I will not hesitate to call the cops"

"Yeah like that would work. Just call him Hannah and make everyone's life a little easier" he hung up

Everyone's but mine.

...

"I'm pretty sure this is a restricted area" I hear Barry say."Easy there, Zappy" I giggled

"I have to feed" another voice stated

"Whoa, what was that?" Cisco asked beside me.

"Barry, what's happening?" Dr. Wells questions, but then I heard a scream

"Barry?!"

"Get out of there. Run, Barry" Dr. Wells orders

"I can't. My speed is gone" Barry replies and we all look at each other.

...

"He runs slow even for a normal person" Cisco remarked

"You can't just lose your powers, okay? Your DNA was transformed by the particle accelerator blast. There's no way to untransform DNA" Caitlin expressed

"Yeah, tell that to the uber driver who charged me 65 bucks to take me here. I had to tell her I was coming from a cosplay party" Barry replied and I put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"So we were wrong. This metahuman doesn't electrocute people; he siphons electricity, thereby removing your power" Dr. Wells said

"All right, do we think this is temporary or..." Barry questions

"We have to run tests" Wells answered

"Yeah. I've got to warn Joe" he shrugged me off

"Barry, we will find a way to restore your speed. I promise you that" Dr. Wells ensured

...

"You think I'll ever wear it again?" Barry asks me

"I hope so" I reply

"I didn't have my speed for very long, but now that it's gone, it feels like part of me is gone too"

"With or without your speed, you're still you, Barry" I spoke honestly and interlaced our fingers.

"But I'm not. I'm not the best version of me. I love being The Flash. I love everything about it: The feeling of running hundreds of miles per hour, wind and power just rushing past my face, being able to help people. I'm not sure I can live without it, Han" and he looked down. I couldn't think of anything to say that would make him feel better because truth be told nothing could make this better except him getting his speed back.

"Farooq Gibran" Cisco says as he walks into the room

"Who?" We asked at the same time.

"The power vampire who jacked your speed. I hacked into the surveillance footage from the Petersburg substation. Once I got his face, it was easy to find a match. He climbed an electrical tower the night of the accelerator explosion" Cisco informs

"No surprise where his powers came from" Caitlin says and an alarm started beeping

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. This is not happening" Cisco goes to look at the security camera feed. Farooq was standing just outside the lab.

"Dr. Harrison Wells, I need to see you! Come on, I know you're inside. Open the door. I just want to talk, Dr. Wells. Wells! Let me in!" He madly ordered. He began to get angry, and as an effect the lights went out.

"Joe and Iris are in trouble" Barry tells us after he finishes his call with the Police Captain, "I need my powers back now"

"I have a theory. It's untested" Wells wearily says

"I'm willing to roll the dice" Barry says now standing behind me

"Okay, you've lost your speed, yes, but nothing has changed inside you on a subatomic level. In other words, your cells are still primed. They just need a jumpstart" Wells explained

"Okay, how do we do that? How do we jumpstart me?"

"We need to replicate the initial jolt to your system"

"But that would mean a peak current of at least 20,000 kilo-amps" I spoke knowing what wells was trying to do

"Are you insane? That's more electricity than they give to people in the electric chair" Caitlin stressed.

"Caitlin, with Farooq in the building, we're all looking at a death sentence here" Wells stated

"The spare generator's offline. If we reboot it, we could get a charge that big" Cisco contributed

"We need something that can transmit the load from the generator to Barry's body without shorting out"

"The treadmill. My baby could take the charge"

"What if Barry can't?" Caitlin asked

"Well, that's up to Mr. Allen" Dr. Wells replies

"What do you think I should do Hannah?" he asked me

"You said that you couldn't live without the Flash, so if there is any chance for you to be him again I say go for it. What do you have to lose?" I honestly replied.

"His life" Caitlin said. Barry started walking away from us

"Where are you going?"Dr. Wells inquired

"I'm gonna talk to him" Barry answered

"No" We all said at the same time

"Okay, you didn't see him at the substation. He needed to feed. I got super speed out of the particle accelerator blast, but his best friends died. He woke up with a disease"

"Earlier today, you worked a crime scene where this metahuman electrocuted an innocent man. He's a murderer! And you are powerless to defend yourself against him" Wells says to Barry

"He may just need help like I did. I don't need my powers to offer him that. I have to try" Barry says. He is always trying to help someone and one day that will probably get him killed, but not today. We all follow Barry as he looks for Farooq.

"So, what's going on with you and Barry. I totally saw that hand holding thing you had going on there" Cisco inappropriately asked.

"Not the time Cisco" I angrily replied.

...

3rd Person POV

Out of nowhere Tony Woodward slams into the wall as electricity crackles through the air.

"Tony." Barry says in surprise

"Hey, Tony , what are you doing?"

"Oh, come on. You know me, Allen. I never run from a fight"

"All right, well, stay with me, okay? You're good"

"Run, and tell Hannah, he's waiting" Tony urges

"What? Hey, Tony. No" Barry watches as the old foe dies, forgetting about past qualms.

...

Hannah's POV

"I know being a hero is important to you, and I respect your ideals. I just don't have the luxury of sharing them" Wells says. I can't believe he sacrificed Tony like that.

"I forgot. Your game's chess. We're all just pawns to you, right? So what's your move, doctor? Which one of us gets sacrificed next?" Barry challenged.

"We have to get out of the facility" Wells stressed

"Oh, my God. Barry, look" Caitlin brought her laptop over for us to look at.

"Your cells, they're rapidly regenerating" I say with happiness. Maybe we won't get electrocuted today.

"I still don't have my speed" Barry points out the obvious

"It must be mental, not physical" I say

"Oh, you have the yips" Cisco finds this hilarious

"The whats?" Barry asks

"You know. When a second baseman all of a sudden can't throw to first or a golfer tries to putt and they get all embarrassed and upset, and then that makes the yips worse, and it's a hot mess, and then they feel like even more of a failure" Cisco elaborates.

"That's not helping" Barry complains

"Look, you asked if I believed you were struck by lightning for a reason, if you were chosen" Caitlin says," We believe. You should too" Then there was a loud booming sound and we all knew what it was.

"Let's move" and we all head toward the parking area. But Farooq met us there and shoot Barry with electricity.

"Hey! You're here for me" Dr. Wells Bravely rolls to meet Farooq

"Finally you show your face" Farooq says in one of the creepiest voices I have ever heard.

"I hurt a lot of people that night" I hear Dr. Wells say

"People? You don't even know their names"

"Jake Davenport. Darya Kim. Ralph Dibny, Al Rothstein, Grant Emerson, Will Everett, Bea Da Costa, Ronnie Raymond" Wells says without missing a beat," I know the names of every person who died that night. I know they all mattered, and the fact that the world is now deprived of their potential is something that I have to live with every day, but these people, these people have done nothing wrong. You want to punish me? Fine, let's do that, but let these people live" Wells vouched for us, and then Farooq shot him.

"Barry you have to save him" I say and grab his shoulders

"I can't I don't have my speed" he says woefully

"Stop thinking and just go" and I kissed him. Of course this was entirely cliché like who is Barry suppose to be Peter Pan. But I would do anything if it means another life is saved and Barry gets to be the Flash again. Farooq starts to send his sparks again but Barry flashes and saves Wells.

Good boy.

...

After they bagged up Farooq, I went home. I open my door and kick off my shoes not caring where they go. It has been a long day and I just want to sleep, but the knocking throws me out of my daze. I open the door and Barry is standing there.

"You really need to learn how to call a person before coming over to their house" I say as I walk towards the kitchen counter.

"Yeah, but that only waste time" he replies

"How is Eddie?" I ask out of concern for Iris

"He is doing well. He is on a lot of pain medicine. You know the drill" he walks behind me and places his chin on the top of my head only emphasizing the height difference between us. I lean into him as he wraps his arms around my waist. Just like old times.

"You should probably head home it's getting late" I told him not really wanting him to go

"Or, I could just stay here" he says with full sincerity. I froze. Did I want him to spend the night? It seemed pretty serious for two people who were just something, but this was also Barry. Kind, sweet, loyal Barry. If I let him stay over, this would progress our relationship rapidly, but if I didn't it would do nothing. I don't want nothing. Oh to hell with it.

"You could, if you want" I tried to act nonchalant.

"I mean it really isn't a big deal. You slept over several times when we were younger. Same thing" he says almost like he is convincing himself

"Barry, those were sleepovers were with Iris, and you were always in the room next door. Its not the same thing" I reply

"Sure it is" he says and I unlatch myself from his grasp and head towards my bedroom. I walked inside and realized Barry was still by the counter, "Are you coming or what?" I ask and hear foots coming towards me.


	5. Good Luck Chuck

Barry's POV

Everyone on this planet, at some point in their lives, has had a major case of the feels Those days when your heart is just too small to hold the big things you're feeling. Today's one of those days. We think of our emotions like they're these unique, personal phenomena, that no one has ever felt what we have felt. There is a basis in science for every emotion we feel Anger, love. As a scientist, I know there's nothing magical about what makes us feel something for someone else But then I see her smile. Man, that cannot possibly be science.I pick her up and drop her off at the airport and then go back for her luggage.

"Please do not do that again" Hannah begs of me.

"Sorry.. I guess next time I should give you a heads up" I apologize

"There is not going to be a next time. I would have been fine taking a cab" she states

"Why would you do that when you have a perfectly good boyfriend who can get you there faster than a cab?" I asked while timidly trying out the new relationship status, and she either didn't notice or didn't care because she checked the time as if I didn't say anything.

"Just because you're right doesn't mean I have to agree. They should be calling my flight soon, so I need to go" she says

"Why do you have to visit your parents now?" I questioned

"Because they haven't seen me in months and they're getting antsy. Also because I kind of miss their way of always pissing me off." she replied

"I'm going to miss you" I say and grab her hands looking into her eyes.

"I am only going to be gone for two days. I think you can survive two days without me Barry" she rolled her eyes.

"Of course I can, but I don't want to" I say right before they call her flight, and I hug her for a good five seconds sniffing her hair"I will be here waiting when you get back I'll be the one holding a giant sign with your name on it" I say

"And I'll be the one who walks past the idiot with my name on a giant sign. See ya later Blue" she says as she walks away

"Catch ya on the flip side Annie" I said her nickname

"You know you and my father are the only ones who call me Annie" she says and finally begins to disappear out of my sight, and I was going to reply but my phone started ringing.

"Barry, bank robbery in progress at Cunningham and Sampere" Cisco informs me

"I got it" I reply

"Wait, that's where I bank" Caitlin added

"Once super thieves showed up, I went mattress" Cisco said not making much sense.

...

"Busy morning?" Joe ask me as I walk in,"Witnesses reported seeing a red streak" he states.

"Joe, you should have seen it. It was like everybody in here was trying to kill each other. I got here just in time" I stress to him.

"Well, it must've been a diversion, because there's 1/2 million bucks missing from the vault. There's a tracer in the cash stacks. We're trying to find the signal. Meantime, any idea what could've caused such mass", he pauses"This?"

"A neurotoxin, maybe" I repl not entirely sure," I'm going to swab some surfaces, see what I can find, but I think maybe they got whammied" I say venturing out on new vocabulary.

"Did you just say whammied?" Joe wonders" I wonder how Hannah would react to your choice of words?"

"She would look at me like I was an idiot and then tell me I am an idiot" I say channeling me inner Hannah. Joe laughs and walks away to go talk to Eddie, and like the good person I am, I listen in on the conversation.

"Hey, What's going on in there?" Iris sneaks up behind me and asks.

"I think Eddie's trying to convince the Captain that The Flash is a public menace" I blatantly state

"Excuse me?" Iris strongly reacts and turns toward Eddie when he walks over."So after weeks of my trying to convince you that The Flash is real, now that you finally do believe me, you're trying to have him arrested? What the hell?" Iris angrily grills

"Thanks, Barry" Eddie sarcastically responds

"Sorry" I say in my I screwed up voice as Hannah calls it, but she substitutes a different word for screwed.

"No worries. The captain shot me down. Look, I'm not feeling like lunch. See you later" and Eddie walks away leaving Iris with me.

"He's just jealous" Iris state

"Of The Flash? ...Why? ...Should he be?" I question not entirely understanding what would stir up Eddie's jealousy.

"No, I'll see you later" Iris says then leaves not giving me a real answer.

"Barry, you need to get to S.T.A. '' Joe orders.

"Yeah, I will. After I eat" I say suddenly overcome with strong hunger.

...

"Anger, hate, aggression" Dr. Wells says on after the other

"A Jedi craves not these things" Cisco responds in a yoda impression which was not entirely bad,"What? No one is feeling that quote?"

"Everyone in the bank went total savage for, like, five minutes. And then they were fine again" I explain the situation

"Anger can be a powerful emotion. If this meta-human can engender irrational feelings of anger in his victims, he can do a lot of damage" Wells elaborates

"Detective West helped get a copy of the cat scans the hospital did on everyone at the bank. Take a look" Caitlin plugs in a USB. "Look at this, the emotion centers of the brains are still showing signs of being overwhelmed particularly the area that controls executive function. That's the part of the brain that stops people from doing whatever random and potentially destructive thing that pops into their head" Caitlins emphasizes.

"How do you think the meta does it to them?" I inquire

"That's the 1/2 million dollar question" Caitlin answers

My phone began to buzz and I checked it. Iris wanted to meet. "Hey, if you guys figure it out, just give me a call, okay? Is The Flash off to another rooftop rendezvous with Iris?"

"No" Caitlin strongly orders

"Yeah, but she probably just wants to ask me I mean, you know, him about meta-human stuff for her blog" I respond.

"Do you want some advice?" Caitlin asks portraying the older sibling role.

"No matter what I say, I'm getting the advice, right?" I replied knowing where the conversation was going.

"Don't get involved. As The Flash or yourself. You don't want to be the one to blame for their breakup, and you don't want to end your own relationship" Caitlin instructs.

"Wait, what relationship? Are you and Hannah together cause I had my suspicions but I wasn't going to say something" Cisco implores with excitement and I sigh rolling my eyes." Dude, she's so hot"

"Really?" Caitlin and I ask at the same time because of his presumptuous behavior.

"She's visiting family which means she not here to hit me which means it is okay" Cisco reasons

"How did you know she was seeing family?" Caitlin questions and I start to wonder since Hannah doesn't really talk to Cisco that much.

"That's not important right. Remember Barry, Iris, Flash, bad" He says trying to redirect the conversation

"Right, Don't get involved" Caitlin reminds

"Okay. I hear you" I insolently reply not intending to listen to her and flash away.

...

" Iris" I call to get her attention

"Flash" she responds like we are acquaintances. "Be great to call you by your real name"

"What did you want to see me about?" I ask getting to the point

"My boyfriend, he's-"

"Did you guys break up?" I interrupt. Maybe Caitlin was right. Ooh

"No" she says and I feel relieved. "He's a cop and he thinks that you're dangerous. And he's trying to convince his boss that you're a menace that needs to be stopped. I thought I should warn you. Anyways, you should probably go" she informs. Aw, she best best friend ever. I was going to reply but I hear Cisco talking to me telling me there about the stolen cash.

"I've gotta run" I tell Iris getting ready to go.

"I bet you say that to all the girls" She says to me trying to be funny

"Only one" I say before I leave

...

"Barry, you okay?" I heard someone ask after the effects of the meta-human wore off.

"Oh, this is going to be a special kind of hangover" I said as my I felt extreme pounding in my head.

"Oliver I'm so sorry" I apologize hoping that he's okay .

"It's not your fault" he tells me,"But we do still have your meta-human to take care of"

...

"I have a prison like this" Oliver says after we finish talking to the meta-human, "Mine's on a nearly inhospitable island in the north China Sea, but this works too"

"My identity is a closely-guarded secret known only to a few, and if it were to get out, will endanger my family, my friends, and it would embolden my enemies to retaliate at me through them" Oliver explains totally scaring the crap out of everyone in the room.

"What Oliver is trying to say is that he had a lovely time working with you and getting to know each of you, and he can't wait to do it again soon" Felicity tried to diffuse the tension.

"Right" Oliver unconvincingly agrees

"You know, it didn't sound like that's what he was saying" Cisco tells Caitlin.

"I may not agree with your methods, but - Thank you" Joe says

"You're welcome"

"Hey. If I had a DNA sample I was unable to fully break down, do you think you could isolate the genetic markers for me?" Felicity asks

"Sure, what's the sample from?" Caitlin wonders

"The Canary's murder" Felicity emotionally states

"Of course" Caitlin replies understandingly

" , I met your father once. Charity event. One of the things we spoke of was you. I think he would be very proud of the man you've become" Dr. Wells informs

"Thank you. And please, call me Oliver" and they walk out of the lab room,"There is something off about that guy" he says as they continue to leave before he stops and sees a ghost from the past.

"Uh hello. I apologize for any trouble, pain, or death associating yourself with these people has caused" Hannah jokingly says

"You must be Hannah. Barry has told me all about you"

"And you are...?"

"Felicity Smoak"

"Ah. So that makes you Oliver Queen/Arrow and you Diggle" Hannah says with a smirk

"How do you know...

"Barry sucks at keeping secrets, especially from me" says Hannah

"I'm sorry but have we met before?" Oliver ask feeling that he has seen her face from somewhere before.

"Don't think so. Surprisingly I've never been to Starling City, but it was nice to meet you" and she walks away.

"I like her. She's nice" Felicity states

...

"What the in the world has been going on. It's like I leave and everyone goes insane"

"Nice to have you back Miss Charles" Dr. Wells greets

"Yea yea. I guess it's good to be back, but it would have been nice for someone to have called" she yells as Wells leave the room"Instead I had to hear from Iris that the Flash beat up Eddie" Hannah angrily shouts and stares at Barry waiting for an answer.

"Well I'm just going to go see what Dr. Wells is doing. Come along Cisco"Caitlin and Cisco hurriedly leave the awkward situation. Hannah looked at me with her piercing eyes and although I know she was mad at me, all I wanted to do was kiss her.

"Speak" she commands me like a dog and who am I to disobey.

"Well there was this meta-human you see and and well he could make people angry and do things they normally wouldn't and he got me. But believe me, at first I thought it wasn't going to work on because.."

"Because you're oh so superior to everyone with your super speed and metabolism"

"Basically" I say in a weak voice

"You could have killed someone Barry. You could have killed Eddie-"

"Could have being the choice of words" I interrupt her but she does not notice

"And that doesn't' seem to register in your head how much you screwed up. It's like you don't even care-

"Of course I care!"I scream at her finally silencing her tirade"I know what I did tonight and don't think for a second that I don't regret my actions or that I don't care! I will always care!" I yell releasing my pent up emotions. Maybe I should do this more often and then I wouldn't have a reason to want to beat someone up. She stared at me for what felt like an eternity, and then she put down her bags that I did not notice she was caring. I guess she came here straight from the airport. She then rushed over and wrapped her arms around me enveloping me in an intense hug.

"Did you come here straight from the airport?"

"Maybe. I was worried that my boyfriend had become some psychotic meta-human maniac and went on a rampage" she whispers and I smile and start to silently laugh

"What are smiling about? You scared the shit out of me Barry. Stop laughing" she says as she hits my arm.

"You called me your boyfriend"

"So?" she asks

"You never stated what we were. Now I know, and thank you for caring so much about me that you left your parents house early" I explained tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"It's not like it was a major decision to make. I was actually glad to have a reason to leave" she says as she picks up her bags.

"Really? Why?" I ask

"Nothing major. She just wanted me to go talk to an old friend that really should not be categorized as friend anymore but that is story for another day" she stops talking and looks at me like she's waiting for me to do something.

"What?"

"Take me home" she orders

"Didn't you say the other day that you hated it when I flashed you places?"I asked smugly

"Stop being a smart ass and take me home" she commands and adds"Please" And who am I to disobey?

...

3rd Person POV

After Barry dropped Hannah off at her apartment, he took her to Jitters where they would be meeting Oliver and Felicity

"Hey! You guys heading home?" Barry asks wanting them to stay a little longer.

"Yeah, we could use some javas for the road" Felicity says

"I will hook you up" Iris tells them and Felicity and Hannah go with her

"Uhm, so listen I'm really sorry for what I said in the field and then last night in the street. I wish I could say it was all because of whatever Bivolo did to me, but I guess I had more feelings bottled up than I thought" Barry tries to apologize.

"You can always talk to me" Oliver reassures

"Yeah. Thank you. And you were right, I still have A lot to learn" Barry admits

"There's one more thing And you're not going to like it" Oliver warns

"Does it involve you shooting me in the back?" Barry jokes

"No. No, the heart. That's not going to work out for you. You need to let her go, for both of your sakes. Guys like us don't get the girl, and Hannah seem like she's seen a dark..." Oliver states but gets cut off by Felicity.

"You ready?" she asks and he agrees

"This one's yours" Felicity says and give Oliver his coffee.

"Thank you" she tells Felicity with a smile. They get ready to leave when Oliver she's someone he used to know. They engage in conversation but she walks away to get her coffee and Oliver stands there remembering the life he used to live. Before Felicity is ready, Hannah walks to Oliver.

"What did you tell Barry about me Oliver?" she asks him expectantly but with a smile to not alert other what they might be talking about.

"Well I was going to mention something, but I guess fate has other plans. What are you doing Charlie, or am I suppose to call you Hannah too?" Oliver stuns the blonde

"That is none of your business and no, you are not allowed to call me Charlie. That girl died a long time and I would like to keep her buried, so if you ever mention something to Barry or anyone else, I will make sure your life is a living hell" she threatens

"He's looking for you, and you avoid him forever" Oliver warns

"You think I don't know that. Now is just not the right time" Hannah admits defeatedly

"You should really should tell Barry. I know you think he can't handle it, but if you open up to him, you just might be surprised" He caring tells her and Felicity walks up ready to go.

"See you around Hannah" He stresses the name and leaves Jitters.

"Probably" she says to herself and walks back over to Barry knowing she can never tell him the truth because it would break him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *AN*
> 
> A lot has happened in this chapter, and now Hannah's real name has been revealed. Who is she and who is looking for her? How does Oliver know who she is?
> 
> Review and tell me your theories.


	6. To Sir, With Love

Barry's POV

"There's only two boxes left" I say while Joe, Hannah, and I decorate the house for Christmas.

"You know, at this rate, we'll be finished by easter" Hannah expresses and I agree

Joe laughs and says "Don't even. Okay, the only red-suited dude I want in this house right now is Kris Kringle, you got it?"

"Uh, these ornaments are not gonna hang themselves" Iris tells us, "Grandma Esther's recipe Light on the bourbon"

"I always loved her definition of light" says Joe right before his phone begins to ring, "And the Christmas tradition continues. Detective West. Yeah? All right. Sorry, kids, the D.A. wants to ask me some questions. Make sure there's some nog left for me when I get back"

"No promises" I tell him and Hannah rolls her eyes at me. Iris then turns off the TV. "What's happening? Hey"

"Come on" she says and yanks me off the couch.

"Oh, come on, we're doing this already? Christmas isn't for a few days" I complain

"I couldn't wait any longer" Iris excitedly tells me

"Oh, wait, me first" I tell her

"Okay" she agrees. And I give her the present and by the look I her face I say I did a pretty good job.

"My mother's wedding band?" She shockingly utters.

"A replica, yeah. You were devastated when you lost the real one" I remind her.

"Our fifth-grade field trip Both: To the zoo" she reminisces.

"You cried for weeks"

"You remembered" she ask me but it sounds more like a statement

"Yeah. Steel trap"

"I don't know what to say. My gift so sucks in comparison - Way" and she gives me a new microscope while she laughs. "It's supposed to be the best one on the market. I thought you could maybe use a new one. It's lame, I know"

"No, no, this is great. I love it" I reassure

"Yeah?" She ask oddly insecure

"Yeah, of course"

"Hannah are you going to join in on this lovely gift exchange" Iris asks

"I'll pass and you know wait for actual Christmas" she tells us and walks toward the kitchen with an expression on her face I can't read. I would have followed her but then there is knocking at the door.

"Hey, babe" Eddie greets Iris.

"Hey, Barry" he greets me. "Nice ring" he tells Iris.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? It's an exact replica of my mom's. Barry got it for me" Iris explains to him.

"That's very thoughtful, Bar" he used my nickname and it sounds so wrong."So are we tree trimming?"

...

"Merry Christmas. Just a small token - of my gratitude. For everything you guys have done for me this year" I say as I hand out present to Caitlin, Cisco, and Dr. Wells.

"I think I speak on behalf of my colleagues when I say you've been a gift for us, Barry" Dr. Wells kindly shares to me

"What's that?" Caitlin asks me.

"This is compliments of Iris Grandma Esther's famous eggnog" I give the container to Cisco

"That's what I'm talking about" he says

"Maybe later for me. Wouldn't want to drink and drive" Dr. Wells statuses and wheels away.

Did I say something wrong?" I whisper to Caitlin

"No" Caitlin responds

"No, man. He, um this used to be his favorite time of year, but the accident happened before Christmas, so Kind of ruined the holidays" Cisco informs

"I'm gonna go get him a present. Maybe that'll cheer him up" I state. "So what are you doing for Christmas, Cisco? The fact that I asked you for your shirt size should in no way indicate that I am getting you something shirt-related for Christmas" I tell him.

...

"The crime scene at Mercury Labs was on a floor with highly secured vaults, and the witness said he was looking for something." I say

"Whatever it was, he wanted it badly enough to kill for it" Dr. Wells adds.

"Doctor, what do you know about this Mercury Labs?"Joe asks

"Mercury was one of S.T.A.R. Labs' major competitors until our little setback, and then it catapulted to the forefront led by Dr. Christina McGee, brilliant but egocentric physicist"Dr. Wells says

"It says here Dr. McGee has secured half a billion dollars in private funding to develop, and I quote, prototypes for the technology of the future" I read an article about her.

"Well, I'll be. Tina's messing with tachyons, superluminal particles."Dr. Wells tells Joe

"Of course. So what could someone do with one of those - "Joe pauses not entirely sure what the word would be

"Tachyons" Dr. Wells inserts

"Thank you" Joe utters in gratitude.

"Well, I don't know. Become invincible? If you could devise a matrix stable enough to harness their power, you could travel faster than light."

"He's gonna try to get them again, so we need to get what Mercury has and use it as a lure" I figure out

"Exactly right. Cisco, Caitlin, let's start engineering a trap" Dr. Wells instructs them

"You got it.

Of course." They both say.

...

Hannah's Pov

"Hannah?" Caitlin asks as she spots me sitting.

"Caitlin. What are you doing here?" I ask because although it's nice to see her, I really was not expecting it.

"Oh, it's been a long day" she replies

"It's only noon" I point out the obvious.

"I didn't sleep much last night" She confesses.

"Yeah, me either" I tell her but her sudden case of insomnia does not even come close to mine. Then Iris walks and greets us.

"Um, so I was catching up on your blog, and this story caught my eye about a man whose head and hands burst into flames? " Caitlin ask Iris out of the blue and peaks my curiosity.

"The burning man?" She knowingly states

"Yeah" Caitlin agrees

"I haven't really updated that story in a while, but there are some reports that I could send you" Iris informs her

"That'd be great. Thank you" Caitlin tells Iris and iris walks away with a smile. Caitlin sits back in front of me and fidgets like she has something to say, so I wait for her to initiate the conversation while silently sipping my cappuccino.

"Can I ask you something?" She politely wonders

"I have been sitting here for that past-" I check my watch" 2 minutes waiting for you to say something so shoot"

"You haven't come to S.T.A.R Labs as much as you used to and I was just wondering why?" she asks and although I couldn't tell her the actual answer, I had another truthful answer to give her.

"Well, I never was truly an employee there even though you all treated me like one which was very kind of you all to except me so readily into your little family, but I don't belong at S.T.A.R. Labs. I don't make things like Cisco and my scientific knowledge doesn't even compare to yours" I confess to her

"Oh come on. You are one of the most brilliant people I have ever had the chance to meet. Of course you belong there" she compliments me.

"Look it's sweet that you think so highly of me but I'm a doctor. Phd. and MD. and I want to help people that aren't just meta-humans, so I took a job as the Head neurologist at the hospital"

"Wow!" she says impressed

"I know. It's weird. They just gave me the job and it pays so well which is always nice" I admit

"Well although I won't see you as often, I am happy for you" she tells me

"I'll still help out with some of the cases just not all of them" I say

"Have you told Barry yet?" she ask

"No! I don't not want to open that can of worms yet, and Can I ask you something girl-to-girl?" I reply

"Sure. Of course" she states

"Barry's been acting different around me lately, like he's keeping some sort of secret from me. And trust me I know when someone is keeping a secret. Is there anything that you know about that I should know about?" I question

"Not that I can think of" she says with sincerity." However, if you feel like Barry's keeping something from you, you should probably just ask him yourself. You are in a relationship. Just talk to him" she tells me as if her answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah. I guess" I say defeated."Thanks"

"Of course" she says and we continue with a light hearted conversation until Caitlin goes to get her coffee.

...

We both came back to S.T.A.R. Labs and Cisco calls out to us.

"Hey, Caitlin, check this out" he beckons "I think we can fashion an electronic barrier, right? We set up a ton of super capacitors. We smooth out the inflection points, and voila a kick-ass force field to trap the opposite Flash" he pauses and looks at us expecting a reaction."That was me testing out a name. What do you think?"

"Are you okay?" I ask Caitlin as she just stands there like stone.

"Ronnie's alive" she blurts out

"What!?" I ask her. Why couldn't she have told me that at Jitters when I was spilling my inner thoughts. I feel betrayed.

"I saw him, Cisco. I think he was following me" she says in a voice that is both intrigued and frightened.

"Caitlin Ronnie died. He was vaporized in the accelerator when it went critical" Cisco talks to her like she is a child.

"Ronnie's alive, and he's out there alone and scared, and I need both your help to find him" she says hopefully

"Well I'm in"

...

Barry's POV

Hannah walk into Barry's lab at the police station intending to surprise him. She calls his name several times but he has yet to answer.

"Barry! I called your name, like -Your mom's case" Hannah says as she walked up to me.

"I used to study this board every day. Lately, I haven't looked at it as much as I should have" I tell her

"I didn't know you did that" she admits

"I guess there's still some stuff about me you don't know" I smile at her

"Yeah and there's plenty of things you don't know about me" she challenges

"Sure" I say sarcastically. "Hannah you're basically an open book" I say and shake my head. If he only knew how false that statement was.

"Iris just told me that Eddie asked her to move in with him and she said yes" Hannah informs

"Wow. They're are moving pretty fast, huh?" I say.

"Not really, I mean, it's been a year. Some people move in together only after a few months. Hell, some people get married after only being together for a few months" she tells me.

"I guess I didn't realize how far along in they were in their relationship"

"Well you spent most of that time in coma so your response is only logical" she says

"Wow! Way to sugarcoat it Han" I sarcastically reply.

"Sorry. You're right. That was a little insensitive of me to say"

"You're forgiven" I say and give her a quick peck on the lip. "Hannah, let just say if I were to ask you to move in with me. Theoretically, what would you say?" I bravely ask nervous of her answer. She looks at me and begins to laugh. That's not a good sign.

"I would say there is no way in hell I would live in your apartment" she admits and my feelings are most definitely hurt, but then she grabs my hands and looks into my eyes seriously.

"Then I would say let's move into mine because it is way nicer than yours" she clears up and kisses my cheek. "Well, I guess I should get going" she says on her way out leaving me stunned.

"Bye" I say to her still mulling over what she said.

...

"He acted like he knew me, like we'd done this before" I told Hannah as we sat on her couch.

"He was antagonizing you, Bare" she tries to comfort me.

"I would get close, and he'd just pull away. I mean, this was just some sick game to him"

"You'll catch him. We'll help. Caitlin, Cisco, , Joe, and me. All of us"

"No, you don't get it, all right? His speed, it is it's beyond me. I'm not the fastest man alive. He is. So how do we catch somebody that even I can't keep up with?" I yell at her.

"Number one, don't yell at me again, okay. I'm not the enemy and I know you're frustrated and hurt right now but that does not mean you get to take it out on me"

"Hannah I-"

"I wasn't finished. Number two, Now, the trap to stop this guy is almost finished, and all that remains is for Joe to get the bait. So take the dramatics down a notch and trust that we are going to get this son of bitch" she says with conviction looking into my eyes, and it is the most reassuring thing she could do for me.

"Thank you" I tell her

"What else am I here for" she jokes

...

3rd Person

"We follow the ionized particles, and that should lead us right to him"

The CPMs are increasing.

We should have told Dr. Wells and Barry.

"No, not until we're sure it's him" Caitlin tells them

"Oh, wow" says Hannah

"Look, Ronnie is not like you remembered him" Caitlin informs

"Well I never really knew the dude" Hannah admits.

"What does that mean?" Cisco asks not entirely sure of the situation.

"Just don't freak out when you see him, okay?" Caitlin asks wanting a response but the device maxes out.

"Oh, I really wish that was because the batteries were dead" Cisco hopes

"Ronnie? Ronnie, it's me, Cait. Look, I brought Cisco with me. We're here to help you. You were in an accident. Do you remember?" she questions

"I'm not Ronnie" Ronnies says to her

"Yes, you are. You're Ronnie Raymond"

"I'm not Ronnie. I told you that. Now get away from me"

"Look, we just need to take you back to S.T.A.R. Labs. We'll help you remember who you are"

"Firestorm" he says then bursts into flames and runs away. We later leave the area and Cisco head to the lab. Caitlin still with Hannah starts to cry.

"Caitlin Don't worry. Hey" Hannah tries to console her. "Now that we know he's out there, we will find Ronnie again. Okay"

"Why so we can throw him in there with all the other meta-human psychos? I used to play this game in my head. What would I give up for just one more minute with him? My house, my career The rest of my life? Today I finally got that minute. And I wish I hadn't. Seeing him like that, what he's become Dear God I wish he had just died that day" she tells Hannah finally breaking down.

"Hey, before I moved to Central City, I had this friend. We were very close and he was almost like a brother to me. As time progressed we saw each other less and one day he disappeared. I don't know where he went or what happened to him while he was gone, but eventually he came back. His family was so happy to see him and so was I, but he wasn't the same. Quite frankly I don't think he will ever be the same as he was before, but it's not a bad thing. Whatever happened to him, whatever he did made him stronger and a better person. I guess what I'm trying to say is... the Ronnie that you knew might be gone, but the Ronnie that is here now just might come back stronger, and you need to give him time to find his way back" Hannah tell Caitlin

"How is your friend right now?" Caitlin timidly asks.

"Oh, well he's..I guess you could say he's found his wings"

...

"The tachyon device is in place" Cisco informs everyone

"You think it'll work?" Barry ask

"It'll work" Cisco responds

"So how do we advertise to him that the prototype's here?"

"We'll take care of that" Cisco replies

"What's the problem?" Barry asks

"Look, Barry Me and Dr. Wells have spoken, and We think it would be best if you weren't here for this" Joes tells him with concern

"What are you talking about?"

"You're too close to this" Joe says

"Or maybe you're not close enough" Barry challenges. "If you hadn't been too scared and warned me that he was here weeks ago, I could have been prepared for this"

"I think we can all appreciate Joe's concern for Iris, Barry" Dr. Wells inserts himself into the conversation.

"That's why I have to be here! I'm the best chance at catching this guy!" Barry says letting his rage seep through.

"Not right now, not in this state" Joe says back

"This man stabbed my mother through the heart and sent my father to prison for it. This is my fight" Barry says taking it personally.

"Not today, son" Joe says.

...

"Merry Christmas, Slugger" Barry's father greets his son."You all right, Barry?"

"I screwed up, dad. After years of searching I finally found him. I found the man who killed mom The man in yellow, the one in the lightning. He's out there, and I had him. He got away. I was so close. I promised you that I would get you out of here. Every day you spend in here has been because of him Until today. Now you're in here because of me, and I'm so sorry" Barry cries and tears begin to form in his eyes.

" , this is not your fault. Look at me. I know what you've given up. Every decision you've made in the past 14 years has been because of me and your mom what you studied, why you became a CSI, even with Hannah.

"Hannah?"

"You're my son. You don't think I know how you love her?" She used to write me letters when you guys were in high school. I asked her to, so she could tell me the things you refused to tell. I remember her last letter telling me about how you broke up with when she went away to college, and you never pursued her because you were too consumed with what happened to me and your mom to let yourself have a life. Well, let it go now, Barry. Hear me now. The man in the yellow suit Has taken enough from us already. Don't let him take any more"

...

"Hey, bare" Hannah greet as she walks in his lab.

"You know my mom traveled around the world twice? She spent a semester abroad in Spain, and she loved it so much that after she graduated, she went to Europe. Didn't stop till she'd been to a few dozen other cities. She always wanted to go back, but she never got a chance" Barry reminisces as he holds an old snowglobe

"No I didn't know that" Hannah admits

"Joe offered to send me abroad when I were to college, I couldn't take off. I mean, the truth is I'm stuck here in Central City. Fear has kept me in that living room for 14 years. And I was mad at Joe, for being scared. But the truth is I was the one that was scared. I've been afraid of the man in yellow for my whole life. That's why I lost"

When I first moved to Central City, I thought that my life was ending. I felt like nothing was going to make the situation better, but I was wrong. Within my first week, you and Iris changed everything. Suddenly my life was filled with this light, this energy. You brightened up everything. You'd seen more darkness than most men will in a lifetime, and you never let it dim your soul. So don't lose that light now Blue" Hannah opened up to him.

"I think it's time to head over to Joe's" Barry says and gets up to leave, but Hannah stays seated."C'mon" he motions for her to join him.

"I'm invited?" she asks

"Of course. Ohana" Barry jokes

"Oh my gosh. Okay then" she grabs her coat and the walk out hand in hand.

As they are leaving the lab,"You wrote letters to my father in prison?' Barry asks

"Course not. Who told you that?" she lies with a smile on her face.


	7. Control

Hannah's POV

The early morning sunlight filtered through the blinds and woke me up from the very pleasant dream was having, but I began to smile when I looked over at his sleeping face. It should be illegal for someone to be that cute while sleeping. I try to ease out of bed, but of course he wakes up anyway.

"What time is it?" he ask in his sleepy voice that I have come to love.

"I don't know" I say

"You have a clock on your nightstand" he points out

"And?" I ask

"You're unbelievable" he tells me as he reaches for his phone checking the time and messages. "I'm surprised no one has called me"

"Is that a bad thing?" I ask

"No. It is an amazing thing, but it is unusual" he replies.

"You just jinxed it. Now someone is going to call or a buildings going to catch on fire" I say to him

"Well that building is just going to have to burn because today is all about you and me" he says as he leans over and kisses me.

"Yeah sure. The day you let a building burn is the day I grow a tail" I joke.

"That could be any day now, The tail would go so well with the horns" he teases and I hit his arm.

"That was so mean! Take it back" I exclaim as I get out of bed.

"No can do. I only speak the truth" he explains and then his phone rings. I assume it was Caitlin by the way he spoke.

"I'm supposed to be training this morning" he informs me and I give him a knowing look. "Raincheck?"

.......

"That was too close" Caitlin chastises. Although this exercise was meant to help Barry increase his speed, I have to admit that was a little close.

"He told me to make it hard" Cisco respond having a little too much fun pushing Barry.

"Pretty sure he didn't tell you to make him dead" I smart off even though a small part of me always enjoyed watching Barry in action. Is that creepy? Nah.

"Remember, this is just supposed to be a training exercise to improve Barry's speed" Dr. Wells reminds.

"Cisco, you gonna bring it or what?" we heard Barry call through his mic

"Bring it" Dr. Wells and I say at the same time.

"Why isn't he running away?" Caitlin asks when Barry stands his ground against Cisco's contraption. I already figured out his plan while the others encourage Barry to run. We had talked about this sort of thing the other night. I told Barry to strategize more and he agreed like an insolent child, and then I hit him with a pillow.

"Barry, run away" Caitlin whispers and out of the corner of my eye I swear I see Dr. Wells' foot move but it must be my imagination. Cisco fires a missile at Barry but he uses his speed and momentum to redirect the missile.

"Very impressive, Mr. Allen. Your reaction to stimuli at super-speed continues to improve" Dr. Wells congratulates.

"It's still not enough" Barry shares

"It will be" Wells encourages taking the words out of my mouth. " You keep working like you are, you stay focused like you are, and you will be ready the next time your man in the yellow suit comes around"

"I think you mean the reverse-Flash. What? He said it, not me. And he's right. Yellow suit, red lightning, and evil the reverse of Barry" Cisco inserts

"Meh" Caitlin replies

"Actually, I kind of like it" Dr.Wells says peaking my interest.

"All right, I'm still ready for another round" Barry says finally finished eating." How many more drones do you have left?"

"Two. And they've got lasers" Cisco announces proudly

"No" both Caitlin and Dr. Wells say.

"C'mon please" Barry looks at me and begs

"No" I say without hesitation in the sweetest voice I could muster.

"Look it-"'

"No" I repeat and although he keeps trying my answer stood resolute."Did I stutter Barry?"

"No sir" I hear him mutter under his breath

"What was that?" I ask him wanting him to repeat his statement

"I said" he begins gaining some courage."that you don't need to always control everything that I do. I can make my own decisions." He explains and I'm pretty sure that was not what he said. He stands resolute not understanding that what he said kind of hurt. If this was a teen show there would be a stupid dramatic song playing in the background and tears streaming down my face. But this is reality, and it sucks. But if this is the way he wants to play, then let the games begin.

.......

3rd Person POV

"Are you sure nothing's missing?" Joe asked at the crime scene, for this case puzzled him. He then called out to get Barry's attention

"Hey. Well, the breakage indicates that the door somehow had zero viscoelasticity when it hit the ground"

"What does that mean to normal people?" Joe asks not understanding the science talk.

"Sorry. Uh The steel shattered like glass. It was frozen, Joe" Barry explains

"Snart" Joe says coming to a conclusion. "I thought Snart was some world-class thief"

"All these expensive cars He didn't take any of them? It doesn't make sense" Eddie adds

"Eddie, put out an APB on Snart" Joe says and Eddie listens.

"Snart wasn't here to steal anything. He was setting a trap. For me. And by me, I mean-"

"Yeah, I know who you meant" Joe cuts him off. "So I guess any plans you had tonight will have to be rescheduled" 

"Well you would have to actually have plans first to reschedule them" Barry tells Joe.

"Uh oh. What, trouble in paradise?" he jokes.

"She's mad at me for something I did, didn't do, or didn't do right. I just don't know anymore. I give up" Barry says exasperated.

"Good luck" Joe says happy not to be in Barry's shoes.

"Thanks for your concern Joe. I'm feelin the love" 

......

Hannah's POV

"Captain cold is back? For a non-metahuman, Leonard Snart is proving to be quite the Nemesis" Dr. Wells speaks as if he was talking to himself.

"He still has the cold gun, the one he stole from us, the one I built" Cisco says with regret.

"Well, what does he want this time?" I ask

"The Flash. If Snart wants a fight with the Flash, then I'll give him one" Barry tells us and Wells seems a little opposed. "You don't think I should?"

"I didn't say that. But, Barry, as fast as you are, you cannot be everywhere at once. And it becomes then a question of priorities. Now, in the last month, you have made a commitment to increasing your speed, enhancing your reflexes, and it's working. You're finally getting faster" Dr. Wells says though I'm only half paying attention.

"Okay, but what am I supposed to do, just ignore Snart?" Barry wonders

"The last time you had a fight with Snart, a train derailed. You were lucky to get all those people to safety. And if you don't give him that fight he may just back off, and there'll be no casualties. Look, Barry, Cisco and I will work with Joe and the police and devise a way to catch cold. Yes, I said it, Cisco. As soon as it came out of my mouth, I heard it" I laugh quietly when Dr. Wells said that.

"Yeah, we can definitely come up with ways to neutralize Snart" Cisco announces

"Listen, Barry. Whether or not you go after Snart, that's your choice. We here, we will do whatever we can to support you. But after this past Christmas, after the events with the reverse-Flash I just think he poses a greater threat to all of us" Dr. Wells mentions

"Okay" Barry says listening to Dr. Wells and this has bad idea written all over it. Barry walks over to me while everyone does there own thing, and I try to look preoccupied.

"Are you okay?" he asks me with concern. Of course I wasn't, but I am not going to just tell him that. He should figure it out on his own.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be" I lied.

"No, it's just you haven't called or anything and I was worried about you" He says almost making me cave because of his sincerity and adorableness, but I shall prevail.

"Oh well I was just trying not to control everything you do. You know, let you make your own decisions Janet Jackson" I tell him. 

"Are you seriously mad about that" he asks.

"No shit sherlock" I say as if the answer had been dangling in front of his face.

"Hannah come on-" he begins

"No! You don't get to say things like that to me and get away with it Barry. So, don't call me for awhile. Control that" I grab my bag and walk out the lab.

......

3rd Person POV

"Hey" Barry greeted Caitlin. " Sorry, didn't mean to scare you"

"No, it's okay. I was just kind of focused" Caitlin assures.

"Gotcha. What's firestorm?" Barry questions.

"It's one of the last things Ronnie said to me before he Flew away. My dead fiance can fly. I haven't broke that to my parents yet" Caitlin tries to add humor to the conversation. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. No, Hannah overreacted and has been ignoring me all day because of something I said. So instead of grovelling at her feet, I am going to let her come to me" Barry proudly states.

"Bold choice" she informs.

"I knew where we stood before. Everything was great and amazing, and I don't know. I guess I don't know what's normal for us" he reveals

"Before I met Ronnie, I knew exactly what was going to happen every day of my life. It was predictable. I like predictable. But when Ronnie and I started dating, everything started to change. He made me try Indian food and scuba diving. At first it was scary. But then it was better. Things weren't really normal with you pining after Iris and her being totally unaware. Whatever happens next, it will be better" Caitlin offers as advice

"Wait, Caitlin. Scuba" Barry has an epiphany. 

"What about it?" she asks not getting where he was coming from.

"Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, it's an acronym. What if firestorm isn't a word? Fusion ignition research experiment and science of transmutation originating rna and molecular structures" Barry finds online.

"It's 800 pages" Caitlin complains and Barry speed reads through it. 

"There's a lot of stuff in there, but it mostly focuses on transmutation, which is the process of altering the structure of an element by unzipping the atoms and rebuilding it to create an entirely new element" He demonstrates his newfound knowledge. "Well, the article was co-written by Jason rush, who's a grad student here at Hudson university. So if anybody knows what happened to Ronnie Maybe he does"

"Maybe. Thanks" Caitlin says

"Anytime" and Barry offers a kind smile.

.....

"I hope we're not enemies" Dr. Wells states

"What? No, of course not" Barry reassures

"I thought you might blame me for pushing you to pursue your training rather than help the police" Dr. Wells admits

"Look, I'm an adult. I make my own choices, my own mistakes. And I'm glad you push me to be better. It's so weird. There was a time in my life that I would've paid money for your autograph" Barry says.

"And now we're Partners" Dr. Wells continues." In case you doubt it, you push me to be better too"

"Guys, you have to come look at this. When the heat gun was fired, it increased the surrounding temperature of the air dramatically, sort of like an extreme heat wave" Caitlin informs

"Heat wave" Cisco repeats testing out the name for the meta-human

"Stop doing that" Caitlin asks.

"Okay. I measured the temperature output of both the cold and heat guns, right? And while the cold gun achieves absolute zero, the heat gun successfully reaches absolute hot, or the hottest temperature an object can reach" Cisco says

"So potentially, these two guns could cancel each other out" Barry figures out

"Yeah, but to do that, you'd have to make them cross streams" 

"You mean like Ghostbusters?" Barry asks before his phone begins to vibrate."Hey, Joe. What's up?Joe, anything?"

"There's no sign of Caitlin. We're getting her back" Joe tells him

"We have to find Snart" Barry commands before running out of S.T.A.R labs and to Hannah's apartment. He knocks but she doesn't answer, so he calls her.

"Where are you?" He urgently orders

"I thought I told you not to call me Barry" she sighs through the phone.

"This is not the time to be a bitch Hannah. Now answer the question" he commands and sensing his anger, Hannah complies.

"I'm at work okay. Not everyone has such flexible hours where they can flash anywhere they want, and I don't appreciate being called a bitch-

"Caitlin is missing" he interrupted

"Snart" she said and his silence answered her.

"I need you to go home" he begged her.

"What good is that going to do? If anything I'm safer at the hospital where there are people around plus I doubt Snart is going to come after me. He has never seen me no which means I have no connection to the flash, so I don't unders-" she never finished her sentence because she was picked up and carried to her apartment.

"Stay here" Barry tells her as he leaves.

.........

Iris is finished moving out as Hannah walks in the door and looks at Barry. Although he expects her to yell at him or hit him with vigor, she surprises them both by securing him in an intense hug.

"Uh, not that I don't like it, but what's with the sudden hug because a few hours ago you were keen on ignoring me"

"I heard about what happened with Snart. I just wanted to know if you how you were doing" she replies.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you okay. I was out of line and you had every right to be mad at me" he confesses.

"You're right. I did have every right to be mad at you. But I did overreact, and I should have been more understanding of the pressure you are under. I get it, and I just want us to be okay" she says and reaches for his hands.

"Well look things have been a little crazy lately" Barry jokes lightening the mood.

"Not really. You just have some anger issues and jump to conclusions" She says with a smirk.

"Well, did you know that I can see into the future?" He jokes and steps towards her bringing them closer together.

"Really?" she asks

"Oh, yeah. Did I forget to tell you that?" 

"Yes you did choose to omit that particular detail" she tells him. "So what do you see?"

"Well for starters I see you finally getting rid of that ugly ceramic mug you made back in the seventh grade"

"Hey you told me that it was awesome and beautiful" she reminds him and hits his arm.

"I lied. I lied about a lot of things to you when we were younger so you would like me" he admits

"Wow. That was a lot of opportunities there Bare" she jokes

"Yeah, well I was very dedicated. But really, in the future I see you and I being really happy together. And things aren't complicated between us anymore" he says

"Promise?" she asks with a tone underlying with sadness masked so he couldn't tell.

"Yeah! It took a little time, but everything's as normal as it can be with us, and we're each others partners in crime" Barry says as he grabs her hands.

"The future doesn't sound so bad" Hannah states

"No. And it'll be here faster than you think" Barry says and kisses her passionately.

"Break it up you, guys make me want to vomit. It's like high school all over again" Iris interrupts the tender moment. "Dad, is it okay if I -" Iris ask Joe as he watches sports on TV.

"Yeah. My baby girl" Joes hugs her goodbye and she leaves.

"Well You okay?" Hannah ask Joe.

"Mm-hmm. Want to order some pizza and watch the ball game?" Joes asks directed at Barry.

"Make it pizzas and you're on" He responds right before Hannah's phone rings. She politely leaves the room to go answer it without prying ears.

"You know, if you ever need somebody to come and eat your food, I'm there" Barry offers. " Besides, the laundry machines in my building have been broken for, like, a month and I feel uncomfortable asking my girlfriend to wash my clothes"

"I don't know why you moved into that deathtrap in the first place, since you still got a perfectly good room here" Joe states

"You said you were turning it into a gym" Barry reminds.

"We both know I'm not turning it into a gym. Besides, you got me running around enough as it is" Joe says.

"You know, it is getting hard to hide the blasting in and out of my apartment at all hours of the night from my neighbors" Barry admits. "I suppose it would make sense for me to move back in. I mean, I am a millennial. That is what we do"

"Well, don't do it on my account. I'll be fine on my own" Joe says trying to play it off cool.

"Oh, yeah, me too" Barry says but then flashes to bring his things over to Joe's. " All right, roomie. You order the pizzas. I'll unpack"

"No way. I want to enjoy this" Joe says as he hands Barry a beer to drink together.

"All right. You know this does nothing to me" Barry explains.

"Just drink it" Joe insists. " What is Hannah going to say when she comes back in here to find your stuff?"

"Probably something along the lines of You're such a loser Allen. Who moves out to just move back in? " Barry says imitating Hannah. Both of the men's laughter can be heard by Hannah in the kitchen as she talks in hushed levels. Her face is contorted and she seems angry, scared, yet sad all at the same time.

"You're not supposed to be calling me. How the hell did you even get my number?" she asks the mysterious caller.

"You didn't think I would be able to find it. This is me we are talking about" the caller tells her.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened. I really am, but there is nothing I can do" she says in desperation.

"You can come back" the caller suggests.

"You know why I cannot do that" she says as if her heart was breaking

"It's been years Charlie. What once was a threat isn't anymore.What's so important in Central City anyway?"

But Hannah hesitated for a second looking at a laughing Barry before she responded to the caller. She knew that there wasn't any immediate danger back home, but she knew she could never leave Barry again.

"I can't. At least not right now. Give me some more time, okay. I just need to get all my ducks in a row before I can come back, and even then it won't be permanent. I left that life a long time ago. I have no desire to return to it" Hannah explained.

"Fine. You have two months" and the caller hung up. Hannah held the phone for a little while longer to process everything that had just happened.

"Hey is everything okay?" Barry asked breaking her out of her petrified state.

"Yeah, Everything is great". She told him and she really should stop lying to him.


	8. To Have Loved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems that things can never last for Hannah because when everything is good, life turns the tables.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy April Fools! Sorry for not updateing for awhile, but I hope you all like this chapter, for things are going to change. Review!!!

3rd Person POV

"Hey" Barry says as he walks in the door

"Hey" Iris answers back

"You do realize the whole point of moving out is not being at home anymore, right?" he jokes

"Hahaha. I forgot a few things. So how is it living back at the house?"

"Hey, Bar? Babe spaghetti a la meat. You sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Joe greets Barry 

"Thanks, but Eddie is painting all day and I swore that I would help. Although, I'm really just going to do that thing where I get a little paint on my hair and on my nose" Iris admits.

He laughs and replies, "Oh, hey, someone from Central City Picture News called you the other day I left the number on the fridge"

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Iris asks

"Chill! Just did.....Hey, I heard that some members of the Royal Flush Gang are headed to prison" Joe whispers

"Yeah. It was pretty awesome" Barry states

"So, where's your girlfriend tonight cause it seems like we'll have to eat this spaghetti all by ourselves" Joe says

"I actually don't know. She's probably hanging out with her doctor friends" he says with a hint of jealousy,"Hey do you think you could do me a favor"

"Depends on the favor" Joe replies

"I need you to look at Hannah's file" he request rather unexpectedly 

"Wait let me get this straight. You basically want me to abuse my police position and dig up information on a girl that happens to be your girlfriend and who we've known since she was eleven?"

"Basically" Barry answers

"Why?"

"I overheard her talking to someone on the phone the other day, and a couple weeks ago she acted weird when a certain number called. I just want to know that everything is okay" Barry admits

"Barry you do understand that this is a total invasion of privacy" Joe says

"I know. So will you do it?" He asks but before Joe can reply Iris' scream is heard.

"Is that a good scream or a bad scream?" Joe asks

"Good! So good! I just got offered a job as a reporter at Central City Picture News" Iris announces 

"That's awesome!" Barry congratulates

"The editor's a fan of my blog!" Iris continues as Joe shakes his head taking a sip of his drink.

.........

Hannah's POV 

I had already realized that staying up till 2 in the morning and sleeping till 6 was not the healthiest thing to do, but it was increasingly hard to fall asleep as of late, call it a guilty conscious, so when I was able to fall asleep at 11 I was determined to stay in the unconscious state as long as possible. But life hates me and decides to let my phone ring awaking me.

"What!?!" I ask not even checking who was calling.

"Hello to you too" Barry greets way too chipper for 2 in the morning.

"Barry, do you know what time it is" I ask him

"Time for you to get a watch. Okay I just realized that that probably wasn't the smartest thing for me to say to you when you're grumpy" he says

"What do you want? I'm tired and a little pissed off, so choose your words carefully" I warn.

"Come over" he commands

"Is this a booty call? Barry it's 2" I stress after his ridiculous suggestion

"No duh. I can't fall asleep, and I'm lonely. And this is totally not a booty call" he states

"No! Good night" I say about to hang up

"Why not?" He asks

"1.I'm tired, 2.I don't feel like getting out of bed,3. Every time I go to Joe's at night it feels like you're sneaking me in. Okay it's weird" I confess

"No it's not"

"Yes it is. It makes me feel like we're seventeen again and not in the good Zac Efron movie way." I explain

"Fine. Leave me here to listen to Joe's snoring all by myself"

"Awesome. Good night" I say as I hang up on him and start to fall back into a peaceful sleep, but the world still hates me because my doorbell rings.

"Barry I swear if that's you I'm going to shoot you" I say right before opening the door looking at the visitor and closing immediately.

"Come on. Really? You shut the door in my face. I'm disappointed. I would have expected a quip or something sarcastic. You've lost your touch Hannah. Let me guess, you're dying. It was bound to happen eventually" the unexpected visitor wisecracks, and waits for me inevitably reopen the door because my natural curiosity.

"What happened? Carol finally figured out you're a worthless piece of crap" I bite back and open the door.

"You'd like wouldn't you blondie? But actually I'm here for your help. I have a job to do and it requires you" he added

"What are talking about Hal" I ask and sigh in frustration that he is even coming to me.

"Look can I come in and then I'll explain everything?" he admits and deep down I know I shouldn't. Letting your ex-boyfriend into your house at 2 in the morning is a bad idea but, I'm a stupid cat whose letting curiosity kill them. I move out of the door way and wait for him to enter. 

"Okay. I let you in now tell me" I tell him and wait.

"You need to come with me" he told me slowly stressing each syllable.

"Okay you're going to have to elaborate." I say

"I know you don't like it when things don't happen like you want them too, but a flight for Gotham leaves in an hour and we need to be on it" he explains

"Oh, so you're doing favors for Bruce now. He must have something really good on you Hal" I tell him.

"It's a you scratch my back I scratch yours kind of deal" he says

"He's never going to voluntarily scratch your back" I say 

"You think I don't know that. But it doesn't matter. I'm here to collect and that's exactly what I'm going to do" he says determined

"And what makes you think I will willing go with you" I try to feign bravery

"Don't make this difficult Hannah it's not becoming of you. I don't know why he want to see you but he's desperate. Cmon lets be real, your brother asked me of all people" Hal says.

"You're right. He must be desperate if he called you. Fine give me fifteen minutes" I reply as I walk towards my room.

"What, are you going to call your lightning struck boy toy? Remember when I was your boy toy? Are you listening to me?" He asks reminding me that I had no idea what I was going to tell Barry. 

.........

"Come in. Look, Joe, I apologize for all of this. It just it really feels like a case of so much for so little. The police should not have been called. I got a prank call before all this happened" Wells explains

"This feels like more than just a prank, Doctor" Joe replies

"Well, there are those who feel I did not suffer enough for the particle accelerator explosion of last year, and some of them act on it" Dr. Wells says

"Dr. Wells. Dr. Wells, are you okay?" Caitlin asks

"Dr. Snow, I'm I'm fine. A little chilly. Otherwise, I'm fine. Hello, Cisco. Make yourselves at home as best you can. I'm gonna make a hotel reservation" Dr. Wells says

"Oh This place is so sick" Cisco observes

"Yeah hey, what took you guys so long?" Barry asks

"We got lost. We've never been here before" Caitlin confesses

"Really? Never?" Barry asks amazed  
...

"There's no point of impact" Barry's says after he rearranged the glass shards, "No rock or bat or any solid object went through these windows. It's as if they just shattered themselves. This wasn't some teenage prank?"

"No, it wasn't" Dr.Wells states

"But you don't want our help. Why?"Barry asks

"Because I already know who did this. Hartley Rathaway" 

"Who is Hartley Rathaway?"

"Hartley Rathaway is the prodigal son"

"And he has returned"

.....

"Hartley Rathaway possesses one of the finest  
scientific minds I've ever encountered" Dr.Wells describes

"Any ties to Rathaway Industries?" Joe wonders

"His grandfather founded the company, his father expanded it, and Hartley here was set to inherit the throne"

"What happened?" Joe asks

"He came out to his parents. Old money, old values" Caitlin inserts

"They were estranged when we met, but, brilliant. I couldn't have built the particle accelerator without him" Dr. Wells says

"You guys have never even mentioned his name" Barry states

"That's because Hartley had a challenging personality" Caitlin tries to put nicely

"What she means is he was mostly a jerk. But, every once in a while, he could be a dick" Cisco bluntly adds making Joe laugh.

"Let's just say that Hartley, like many outliers, had trouble relating to his peers"

"Yes, but he was always your favorite. The chosen one. He referred to himself like that"Cisco says

"So if you two were so close, why would he target you? " Joe questions.

"Hartley left S.T.A.R. Labs about a year ago after we had a a disagreement"Dr. Wells reminisces 

"About what?" Joe ask but Dr. Wells doesn't answer.

"Look, don't worry. We'll stop him. I won't let him hurt you any of you. Let's get back to my lab, all right?" Barry's says as he ushers Joe out of S.T.A.R. Labs.

.......

 

"Everything has a natural frequency. And since sound is expressed as a vibration, if the pitch of the sound matches the natural vibration frequency of an object, then" and the glass breaks.

"So, you're saying that can happen to anything, Not just glass?" Joe asks

"Oh, yeah. I think that's absolutely what happened to the windows at Wells' house. He's using some kind of sonic technology" Barry explains

"I'm getting this feeling that Wells is hiding something about what's going on with this Rathaway character" Joe confesses

"Don't touch that! I mean, it sounds like this Hartley guy was a pill before he went all super villain, so I I get why he never mentioned him" Barry says

"Like he never mentions his girlfriend that got killed" Joe inserts

"No. How do you know about her?"Barry asks

"He's taking up a big part of our lives. I wanted to know more about him" Joe explains

"I mean, if you want to know more about him, you could just ask me"

"Sounds like you don't know him as well as you think"

"Joe. Multiple 911 calls. Rathaway Industries is under attack. Sector cars are en route" Eddie says as he enters the lab. 

"Hey" Barry answers his phone

"Barry, it's Caitlin" she states like he doesn't have caller I.D.

"I think I know why you're calling"  
...  
"It's over, Rathaway" the Flash says

"You know my name. I know some names too.  
Caitlin Snow.  
Cisco Ramon.  
Harrison Wells.  
Hannah Charles. Although, that one is questionable. I can hear the radio waves emanating from your suit. About 1900 megahertz. Is that them on the other end, listening? Are they gonna hear you die? " Hartley asks

"No. They're going to hear you get your ass kicked. 

"Okay"

"Looks like you're not as smart as everyone says" Barry says

"Smart enough to have figured out who Harrison Wells really is. You see, I know his secret. I know all secrets"  
...  
"Being scooped up by a guy clad in head-to-toe leather is a long-time fantasy of mine, so thanks. Well, well, well, the gang's all here. You've lasted a lot longer than I would've thought, Cisco"

"And you didn't last ten seconds against The Flash"

"I was thinking of calling myself Pied Piper"

"Hey! I assign the nicknames around here. Although that one's not bad"

"Caitlin Never did get that wedding invite"

"Shut the hell up!"

"Stay in front of me" Cisco demands  
...

"I assume you were all listening. Well, Hartley was telling the truth. I have not been honest with you. With any of you. The accelerator Hartley warned me that there was indeed a chance that the accelerator could explode. His data did not show just that there was a risk, but it was a real risk. And yet I made the decision that the reward that everything we could learn and everything we could achieve, that all of that simply outweighed that risk. I'm sorry" Dr. Wells majorly confesses 

"Then the next time you choose to put our lives, and the lives of the people that we love, at risk, I'll expect a heads up" Caitlin states clearly upset and leaves followed by Cisco.

"After the explosion, when everyone else left you, Caitlin and Cisco stood by you. You owe them more than an apology" Barry says

"They might soon get more than that what with Hartley so intent on sending me to the next world"

"What are...that wouldn't make it right with them. You broke their trust. Our trust" Barry says and walks away.

........

"No, no, no, I am having the worst day ever. We both can't be having the worst day ever. Okay? And I was really looking forward to getting some good complaining in" Iris says as she takes a seat across from Hannah.

"Well, fire away" Barry's tells her

"Okay, well, turns out that the real reason they hired me is because they think I have some sort of connection to The Flash, which I don't. Not anymore. And I've been teamed up with Mason Bridge, who is a legend, who I admired, before he told me I was a worthless, talentless millennial" Iris vents.

"Well, the people we admire aren't always who we'd like them to be" Barry wisely states

"Well said. So, I'm screwed"

"No, look if this Mason guy doesn't see what a talented journalist you are, then he's probably a lousy writer" Barry attempts to comfort

"He won the Pulitzer. Twice, I think" 

"Oh. Good for him

"Thanks, Barry. Having someone believe in me, it's, um a small really, really big thing"

"Yeah"

"Yeah, so when is Hannah coming back from her doctor thingy " Iris ask changing the subject.

"What?" Barry asks confused

"Don't tell me you didn't even ask her where she was going"

"No. Of course I asked. It must have slipped my mind" he says almost reassuring himself, but he knew for a fact that she said she was visiting her family. So why would she lie?

......

"Has Hartley made contact yet? Dr. Wells asks

"What makes you so sure he will?" Caitlin answers his question with a question

"Because he's Hartley, and he'll want to have the last word" Dr. Wells mentions

"Cisco, you should be resting" Barry's reprimands

"The answer to why Hartley fooled us into catching him is in here, and I'm gonna find it" Cisco says determined

"You have nothing to prove" Wells reassures 

"Not true" Cisco replies

"Do you know why I hired you, Cisco?" Dr. Wells asks

"You said you saw something in me I know" Cisco answers

"What I saw was humanity. You and Hartley, Cisco, you're both brilliant. You both have mental sparks. But his brilliance subtracted from the experience of working here, whereas your brilliance, your heart, your warmth, your humor, it just adds to it. There is no chosen one, Cisco. No second or third favorite. Never was. It's just us" Wells says comforting Cisco.

"Nice gambit, Harrison. But this isn't over" Hartley speaks

"Hartley, what do you want? What do you want, Hartley? I already gave my mea culpa today" Wells asks

"The city already hated you. You don't think I noticed that press conference was a pathetic bishop sacrifice? No, no, no. I've played with you too many times to let you get away with that. This is between you, me, and The Flash" Hartley announces 

"You don't want to play for those kind of stakes with me, Hartley" Wells replies

"Actually, I really do. What do you say? One last game of chess?" Hartley dares

"You and I both know that the winner of the game is the one who makes the next-to-last mistake, and you clearly have a move in mind" Wells tells him

"You're right. And I'm already at the board. So why don't you move your precious scarlet knight While I take out a few pawns" Hartley says

"Alright, Cisco, where do I go?" Barry asks after putting the suit on.

"I can't trace the signal. He could be sending his messages - from anywhere" Cisco says

"Cisco, scan for seismic activity. If Hartley's using sonic blast, the vibrations could cause tremors" Dr. Wells suggest

"Look.Over here. Quake activity but no fault line"

"The Keystone Cleveland Dam" Caitlin reads

"Barry! Don't underestimate him. He's brilliant" Dr. Wells warns

"Well, good thing I'll have you in here" Barry tells him

"Barry, you need to disarm Hartley immediately. Immediately! Do you hear me? He is a master of distraction. He is a master of hiding his true endgame" Dr. Wells commands

"I figured out what Hartley stole from S.T.A.R. Labs, why he let himself get caught" Cisco announces, "He has all the data on Barry's molecular scans" 

"Why would he want that?" Caitlin wonders

"He can get Barry's frequency. Barry, you need to get out of there! You need to get out of there immediately!" Wells warns

"It's over! You lose!" Barry's says after he grabs Hartley

"Amazing. He replaced me with you? Total moron. I got you with the same trick twice. I got the idea watching you and Harrison chit-chat to use your suit's own speakers to kill you. That feeling? That's your organs shearing apart. And you activated the frequency when you disarmed me. In chess, we call that a discovered attack. You don't see it until it's too late. Right, Harrison?" Hartley monologues

"Barry's vitals are bottoming out. We need to do something" Caitlin informs

"What are you doing?" Cisco asks Dr. Wells 

"Barry's on the travel road of the dam, at rush hour, surrounded by cars. Many of those cars are going to have satellite radio. Satellite sends a signal to the car, song comes out the speaker" Wells says

"Yes! I know how satellite radio works! How does that help?" Caitlin asks

"Well, I'm gonna have the satellite send something other than a song. Hartley is about to hear something he was not expecting a sound wave that will meet the frequency of and destroy his weapons. Checkmate. Barry, can you hear me?"

"Sort of!" He answers

"How do you feel?"

"Fine! I mean there is a little ringing in my ears, but other than that I'm good, so" he shouts not noticing 

"You're speaking very loudly"

"Sorry" he apologizes

"It's okay, it'll pass" Caitlin says

"Nice moves"

"Thank you"

"Anytime"

"I think I'm gonna take my doctor's advice and go lie down" Cisco says

"What a great idea!" Caitlin adds

"Man, I feel like I'm hungover times ten" Cisco comments

"I'm not surprised. It's difficult for me to admit when I'm wrong. Certainly, in front of an entire city but also Also to my closest friends. So I hope one day to restore your trust and faith in me" Dr. Wells confesses

"That day was today. Not every hero wears a mask. Some heroes save the day in the simplest of ways. By just being there for us or letting us know we're believed in. If I'm any sort of hero today, it's not because of my speed. It's because I learned how from the people in my life all of them" Barry offers his kind words

.....

"Hey" he greets

"Hey"

"Man, that press conference today was something else" Barry's tells him

"Dr.Wells took a lot of guts to do that. I have to give him that" Joe credits 

"He has his moments" Barry admits

"What's up?" Joe asks

"Must have been hard for you" Barry realizes 

"What? To be this handsome?" Joe jokes

"Raising me" Barry says

"Oh. No"

"Well, a kid who loved math and chemistry, whose idea of a fun afternoon was doing experiments in the garage. Couldn't have been easy. As soon as I started AP classes, you had no clue how to help me with my homework. You must have always felt like you were competing with Richard Dawkins and Neil Tyson and Henry Allen too. But, look, none of them no one could ever replace you. Not even Wells" Barry tells Joe

"Aw. Well I did that favor you asked me for" Joe announces

"And?" Barry asks

"Oh. I didn't look in it" Joe tells Barry

"Why not?" Barry wonders

"It's none of my business. I don't need to look at it, but you obviously do" Joe says, All right, I'll see you at home"

"All right" Barry says as he shares at the folder not sure whether he should or shouldn't open it. He knows that it's wrong, but the curiosity and temptation is too much to ignore.

.....

"Hey Barry I got your text about meeting you here" Hannah calls out as she arrives at the West household after her trip, "Barry?" She calls out not immediately seeing him in the house.

"Did you enjoy your trip?" Barry ask in a voice lacking emotion

"Yeah it's always interesting to see my family" she lies to him without missing a beat.

"Wow! It's amazing how you can stand here, look me in the eyes and lie to my face" Barry says

"What are talking about Barry?" She asks

"Oh don't play the innocent role Hannah. I caught you. You told Iris that you were out of town on a doctor thing, but you told me you were seeing family. So just stop lying. It would be the first time since you met me" Barry shouts holding up her file in her face.

"Where did you get that?" She ask afraid of his answer

"You don't care where I got it from. You care about whether I read it or not. I did, thoroughly. And you seem to have a normal life Han. No criminal activity, perfect driving record, and you work for several charities, but what stumps me is that there is not any information predating the sixth grade. There's a birth certificate with your name on it, I'm questioning the validity of that, but then there's nothing else for about eleven years. So tell me Hannah what going on. Who are you?" He ends his rant.

"You were never supposed to see that. it is a total invasion of privacy and lack of trust" she says with her voice shaking.

"Oh cut the crap, and give me an answer" Barry demands 

"I.." and she doesn't finish her sentence. She can't.

"Where were you?"he said in desperation laced with sadness. It was almost unbearable for her to look him in the eyes as her heart quenched with regret and fear. She couldn't tell him where she went no matter how much she really wanted to.

"I can't tell you." Hannah managed to utter as a lone tear slid down her face

"Why? I thought we could tell each other anything." 

"If you knew where I went, you would be in danger. I'm trying to protect you Barry"She screamed at him

"You should know better than anyone that I don't need protecting Hannah, if that is really your name." It wasn't. Her name was Charlotte Hannah Wayne, and no matter how bad she wanted to tell him she couldn't. It wasn't the right time.

"I'm trying to understand Hannah, I really am but you're not giving me much to go on." 

"I know" she said in a voice much calmer than her previous tone. He rubbed his hands down his face and snorted in contemplation"I think you should leave"

"Barry I..."

"NO! I'm done Hannah... I'm done. I can't be with someone if I don't really know who that someone is. I'm sorry" and he walked out the door and her life. For now.


	9. What's Done in the Dark

This is my family. I found it all on my own. It's little, and broken, but still good. Yeah - still good.  
-Stitch

Barry's POV  
"Dude. That was insane. I mean, even I'm having a hard time getting mad at you for dirtying up my suit" Cisco excitedly states  
"Okay, when are we going to start considering it my suit?" I wonder  
"I'd be comfortable calling it our suit" Cisco offers  
"Our suit" I agree.  
"Tonight was the fastest you've ever run" Caitlin informs  
"Yes, your training is paying off. That couple is alive tonight because of you" Dr. Wells states  
"I can still get faster. I know I can" I say  
"And you will one day, I'm sure. But for today, I'd say you've fulfilled your save quota. Proper rest is what you need, as do we all" Dr. Wells informs  
"Better yet, what we all need is a proper drink. Who's up for a round?" Cisco suggests  
"Oh, dude, it's It's movie night with Joe. I can't. But I'll see you guys tomorrow, alright Bye" I tell them and leaves  
"Night. What about you? Drinks on me?" Cisco asks Caitlin  
"I think I'll pass" she answers  
"You okay?" Cisco asks her  
"I was looking for my tablet at your workstation, and I found this" she show him the information on Ronnie  
"I can explain. I know you said we should stop looking for Ronnie, so I didn't stop looking for Ronnie.  
"Why?" She asks  
"Hartley. He said he knew what happened to Ronnie"  
"Oh, Hartley Rathaway, who is currently locked up in our super-villain basement jail for going psycho with sound waves?"  
"Yeah. He's made some poor choices. There's no argument there. But I looked into what he was saying and"  
"Cisco. Ronnie's gone, and it's time for me to move on with my life"  
"Doesn't seem like it"  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
"Look, I'm not an expert on love, but I think in order to move on from Ronnie, you actually have to move on"  
........  
"Hey.The security cameras in half the prison are shut down. Then Clay Parker, according to this data log, who was still locked in his cell, somehow vanishes" Joe tells me  
"Not completely"  
"What's that?"  
"It's some kind of organic particulate residual.I found it on the floor in here, just outside the cell, out in the hallway. Trail led me all the way outside. Dad" I says as my dad walks past the cell.  
"So Word around here is, Parker pulled a Shawshank?" My dad asks joking  
"Yep, and none of the other prisoners heard or saw anything" Joe informs  
"Well, they wouldn't talk to you about it" dad tells Joe  
"Leaves us with not a lot to go on" I tell him  
"Well, if there's anyone who can figure out how Parker got out of here, it's you, Son" He says to me and it actually makes me feel really good.  
"Duty calls" My dad tells us before walking back to his cell.  
"So, my dad just happened to come by?" I ask Joe knowing he set it up  
"The guard owed me a favor, and I thought you could use some cheering up" Joe says to me  
"Thank you" I tell him  
..............  
"Not even Barry's cells move this fast. I've never seen anything like it"  
"So Clay Parker is a meta-human?"  
"Not so fast. The particulate residue Barry gathered at Iron Heights does contain Clay Parker's DNA, but also DNA of a woman" Dr. Wells tells Cisco  
"Run her DNA against the CCPD criminal database. See if you get a match" I instruct  
"Yahtzee. Her name's Shawna Baez. Mostly petty crimes, and this girl likes to party, apparently. Long list of disorderly conducts at local bars"Cisco reads her file  
"So I'm guessing we find her, we find Clay Parker" Joe surmises, "Barry?"  
"Yeah" I answer  
"In the meantime, let's track these particulates and see how they work"  
"I'll be right with you guys. I've had the biggest craving for Thai food"  
.......  
"What's that smile about?" Iris asks  
"I saw my dad today. No glass, no phones. Just me and him, face-to-face. Joe arranged it" I happily say  
"That must have been amazing, Barry"  
"Yeah. I really needed it"  
"I'm sure he needed it, too. Were you there investigating the breakout? Iris asks me  
"Mm-hmm" I answer  
"That is a big story. Which I am not a part of. My editor wants me writing about The Flash, and only The Flash" she complains  
"Is that a bad thing?" I ask her  
"I don't know. I would just like to be thought of as more than The Flash PR flack. I mean, if I don't write something soon, I think I might lose my job" she says  
"Hey, no. We will find you a great story to write about. Together. Okay? You know I'm always here for you" I honestly tell her  
"I know, but enough of that" she stops and hits my arm.  
"Ow! What was that for?" I ask her rubbing my arm.  
"What the heck is wrong with you Barry Allen?" She angrily asks and hits me again.  
"I don't know, and will you stop hitting me" I says to her  
"Why would you break up with Hannah, again. Like seriously, once was bad enough, but twice. You're never going to get her back" she explains  
"I don't know if I want her back" I honestly answer  
"What happened?" She asks morphing her tone to be comforting  
"She didn't tell you?" I ask out of surprise  
"No. She just said that you ended things and not to get mad at you because it was her fault" Iris recollects  
"She said that?" I ask still surprises with the kindness Hannah was showing me.  
"Yeah" Iris answers," I guess you two just weren't meant to be, but that's idea is bull so we'll see what happens" she concludes before taking a sip of her drink, and it got me thinking . Did I really want things between Hannah and I to be truly over?  
...........  
"What do you mean you've been asking around?" I ask my father with the phone.  
"Do you know a Marcus Stockheimer?" He ask in return  
"Sure, he's some mid-level gangster. He works mainly on the south side" Joe tells him  
"Word is, Clay Parker was a runner for Marcus. When Clay got pinched, Marcus lost a lot of money. Apparently Marcus doesn't like losing money" Dad informs  
"So, what? So Parker can't leave Central City until he's paid off his debt?" I ask  
"From what I'm told, if you're a member of the Stockheimer crew, you get out, first thing you do is pay him a visit or suffer the consequences" Dad tells us  
"All right. No more playing cop. Promise me"  
"I hear you" he says  
"All right" I return content and I get up to leave  
"What's going on with Barry, Joe? He seems off" Henry quickly ask Joe  
"He's fine. Girl trouble" Joe answers before leaving  
........  
"I was analyzing the particulates that Clay Parker and Shawna Baez left behind, and I found something very interesting. When Clay's cells come into contact with Shawna's, they adopt her properties" Caitlin tells me  
"Something bothering you?" I ask her  
"Why would you ask that?" She wonders  
"You're doing that biting your lower lip thing that you do when something's bothering you" I tell her  
"I'm fine"she lies  
"Okay" I say trying not to pry any further  
"Cisco says I don't have a life" She confesses  
"You don't, do you?" I ask  
"I do! I cook and I eat and I read and I help you" She attempts to justify herself  
"So, what you're saying is, you do everything that has nothing to do with having a life" I summarize.  
"You don't have to be rude about it" Caitlin complains  
"Hey, I'm not doing any better than you right now. My social life consists of running at superhuman speed and Netflix" I say realizing that I really don't have a social life anymore. Not really.  
"We are quite the pair, Mr. Allen" she states  
"Yes we are, Dr. Snow" I agree with her  
"There's an armed robbery in progress. Two suspects, male and female in their 20s. Sounds like our meta-human Bonnie and Clyde are at it again" she tells me  
"Time to ruin their social life" I say before flashing away  
"Just a few bags, baby, is enough to pay back Marcus." Clay tells Shawna pointing his gun at civilians.  
"These things are heavier than they look" she complains before I get to her.  
"Oh, I've read about you. You're The Flash. I've heard you're real fast. Let's see if it's true.Catch me if you can" she says and disappears  
"I can" I bite back before she disappears again, "Oh, you gotta be kidding me" I says as she disappears again and I end up on a rail.  
"Not too many men can keep up with me"She says before I hear the sound of a gun being fired. I try to stop the bullet but it grazes my neck and the force throws me off my feet.  
.........  
"This is a bullet wound. You're lucky it just barely broke the skin" Caitlin chastises as she cleans my wound.  
"Guess I'm a lot faster than a speeding bullet" I joke  
"Shawna Baez. She can teleport" I tell them  
"As in, "Beam me up, Shawna?"' Caitlin surprises me making a reference.  
"Yes, of course. Quantum entanglement. The ability to manipulate interconnected particles over an infinite distance. Or, as Einstein put it, "spooky action at a distance" Dr. Wells describes  
"Every time I got close, she'd disappear. It was like we were playing a game of" I start but am cut off  
"Peek-a-boo. Come on. Can't I name one?" Caitlin begs is to let her have this one.  
"How am I supposed to catch her if I don't know where she's gonna be?" I ask  
"Everybody has limits, Mr. Allen. Now that we know Shawna's powers, we'll focus on those limits" he instructs  
"All right. Let me know. I'm gonna change. I gotta go help Iris" I say possibly counting this as my social life.  
....  
"Hey, Barry"  
"Hey, Eddie" I greet  
"Hey, what are you doing here?"  
"I thought I'd see if you wanted help writing your story for the paper"  
"Oh, that is so sweet. I would love to, but we were about to have dinner with Eddie's mom tonight"  
"And we're late" Eddie says  
"Can we do it another time?" Iris asks  
"Yeah, yeah Yeah"  
"Okay. All right" Eddie says as they walk away  
"Bye" Iris tells me and I say it back.  
"What bars did Shawna and Clay frequent?" I call to ask Caitlin  
"Uh, mostly south side dive bars. Why?"  
"I was just gonna check 'em out. See if they fall into any old habits" I tell her  
"That's a good idea. I'll join you" she says before hanging up and then I see Hannah walking out of the Station. She looks at me, turns to walk away, but then decides against it and turns back to wave.  
"How you doing ?" She awkwardly asks  
"I'm Great" I partially lie  
"Okay, I'll ask again and I want a real answer this time Mister. How are you?" She repeats gaining some courage. I laugh at the fact that she knows me so well.  
"Does it really matter how I am?" I ask, and she thinks for a few seconds.  
"No. I guess it doesn't" She offers a smile, "I'm glad you got to see your dad without the glass between. It must of really made his day" she says and begins to walk away  
"Wait! How did you know about my........Joe." I realized before I finished asking  
"Yeah. I thought it was a little strange that he felt so compelled to tell me, but I'm glad he did" She says and gives me her sweet Hannah smile, " I should get going"  
"Do you want meet Caitlin with me at a bar?" I ask not being able to stop the words before they come out of my mouth. She looks at her hands and starts laughing,"What's so funny?" I ask  
"You. You are terrible at this. Think about it Barry. You're asking the girl you just dumped to go with you to a bar" she reasons  
"With a friend" I add  
"With a friend" she repeats, "I'm going to have to say no, but thanks, I guess" she tells me.  
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I wonder  
"Would you rather me call you derogatory names and and shoot daggers at you with my eyes? Would that make it easier for you?" She asks  
"Yeah it would actually" I answer  
"Well I'm sorry to disappoint" she tells me  
"But what would really help me is for you to tell me your name and why you lied. That confession would make my day perfect, but the world is not perfect and I know you're not going to tell me so I'll have to wait until you slip up" I boldly say and she doesn't respond. She walks away with a blank expression on her face.  
....  
"Hey.What?" Caitlin asks when she walks into the bar.  
"What? Nothing. Uh, well, you look really nice" I compliment her.  
"I don't always dress like a high school principal" she jokes  
"So, this is where Shawna Baez and Clay Parker used to hang out?" I ask  
"It is, according to the files. I thought we could kill two birds with one stone. Look for them and get ourselves back out there" she states  
"I keep making the same mistake. Every time Hannah and I get closer, I find something to pulls us apart then race to get her back thinking that things are gonna change, but things are never gonna change. I am never going to change. I'm destined to be alone"  
"At least you're not pining for someone who bursts into flames and wants nothing to do with you. Instead you're hung up on your high school sweetheart"  
"What is wrong with us? I mean, we're in our 20s. We should be having fun. We should meet people, go on lots of dates"  
"Well, here's to liquid courage" and she toast with her drink  
"Uh That is Very fast. Drank all of it" I say amazed.  
"Excuse me? I would like to start a tab"  
...  
"Excuse me, could I get some water? Yo. Excuse me? For real?" I irritatedly ask the bartender  
"Mr. Barry Allen! Come on down! Or up." Caitlin drunkenly orders  
"I'm not doing it" I say to her  
"Come up here with me. Oh, come show 'em what you got. Come on. Barry! Barry! Barry! Barry! Barry! Barry! Barry! Barry! Barry! Ooh, look at him go. He's so fast! Ohh, shh!"  
"You know I'm not much of a singer. And you're not much of a drinker"  
"We are gonna bring this place down" she announces  
"Okay, just Good girl" and I pat her on the back, as the music starts. She is so bad it's funny. We finish up the song and walk back to the bar.  
"You're fast and you can sing? What can't you do?" She asks  
"Stop you from drinking, apparently" I laugh before she takes a sip of a drink that was not hers  
"I'm not even sure that was mine. I have to go to the bathroom" she announces  
"Okay. Can I close out my tab, please?" I ask the bartender that won't listen.  
"Hey, Stevie. Can my friend here tap out? A girls asks for me  
"Sure thing, Linda" he immediately replies back  
"Uh, thank you, Linda" I say to her  
"You're welcome, Barry" she replies  
"How do you know my name?" I curiously ask  
"Barry. Barry. Barry" she imitates Caitlin's cheering  
"Yeah Sorry bout us up there" I apologize  
"Are you kidding? No, that was some of the best singing that I've heard come from that stage. You definitely made my ears happy. Don't worry" she says  
"Thanks"  
"So was that your girlfriend up there?" She asks  
"Oh No, no. She's a friend" I clarify.  
"Okay. Hey. Have you heard of this new phone app? It's so cool. Check it out. You just touch someone's phone with your phone, and it automatically downloads your contact info" she shows me  
"Wow. That is cool" I tell her kind of amazed  
"See? You have my number. What you do with it now is up to you" she tells me before walking away, and I think she was flirting with me.  
"Barry?" Caitlin grabs my attention after coming back from the bathroom.  
"Yeah?"  
"I don't feel good" she says  
"Okay. Come on" I say and take her outside and she vomits, "Okay?" I ask  
........  
"Are we still running?" She asks clutching her stomach  
"No, we are here" I guide her to her bedroom  
"Vodka and super-speed not a good combination. So, are you gonna call her?" Caitlin ask  
"Who?" Wondering if she meant Hannah.  
"That girl. The one who gave you her number"  
"Oh, I hadn't really thought about it" I tell her  
"Yes, you have. But I know you. You won't. You'll let her slip right through your fingers because you think you don't deserve happiness.  
But what you don't realize is, you need a little saving, too. Little help, please" she ask as she get stuck in her dress.  
"Yeah. Okay" I use my speed to help her out of the dress and into her pajamas.  
"There you go again. Saving me from that evil dress" she says  
"Get in bed" I order  
"Did you sneak a peek? At my goods?" She asks still heavily intoxicated  
"I wouldn't be much of a hero if I did" I say to her.  
"Yeah, but it's okay if you peeked a little. You deserve a peek for all the good stuff you do" she informs me  
"Drink lots of water" I suggest  
"Thank you for tonight. I sang"  
"Any time" I laugh  
"Hey, Barry? Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?" She ask  
"Sure, yeah"  
........  
"Hi" I greet Caitlin as she walks into the lab.  
"So loud" she comment wearing sunglasses obviously hungover.  
"Oh, ho-ho. I just wanted to make sure you're okay" I say  
"Let's just say I envy your inability to get drunk. I don't remember much from last night" she confesses  
"Yeah, that's probably for the best. Summer lovin' " I tease  
"Oh, God. That I do remember" I says  
"What's wrong?" I ask after I stop laughing.  
"Cisco Has something he needs to tell you" Dr. Wells tells us  
"Hartley's gone" Cisco announces  
"He escaped from the Pipeline? How is that even possible?" I ask  
"I let him out. Are you mad? I can't tell with those glasses on" Cisco ask Caitlin  
"I'd like to yell and wave my arms, but I'm afraid I'd throw up" she says  
"Why? What were you thinking? You know how dangerous he is" I remind  
"Hartley said he knew what happened to Ronnie" Cisco says  
"I told you to let it go. I didn't want you looking into that for me" Caitlin tells him  
"I wasn't doing it for you. I...I sealed Ronnie into the accelerator before it blew. He told me to wait two minutes, and I waited, but he didn't come back. And I can't stop thinking, Ronnie wouldn't be like he is right now. I've wanted to tell you so many times. I'm so sorry" He confesses  
"So you carried that around this whole time? Do you know what Ronnie would say if he was here? He would say that you did the right thing. It wasn't your fault. What happened that night wasn't anybody's fault" she comforts.  
"Come on. Don't we have a teleporter to catch?I ask them.  
"We do have a teleporter to catch. And fortunately, we do have a promising theory. Take a look at this. Now, this is the normal behavior of the particulate that Shawna left behind. Watch what happens when we remove light. Shawna can only become entangled with something she can see. Take away her ability to do that" Dr. Wells explains  
"She can't teleport" Cisco conclude  
"Exactly" Dr. Wells agrees  
"So, we just need to get her into a dark space" Caitlin says  
"How do we do that?" I ask before picking up my phone.  
"It's a valid question" Dr. Wells says  
"Hello? What?!? Yeah, I'll be right there. All right" I worriedly say before hanging up  
"What's wrong?" Dr. Wells asks  
"My dad.He's been stabbed" I stutter out before leaving.  
"Dad! What happened?" I question  
"A rather stern reminder, I'd say, not to poke around Marcus Stockheimer business" He say lying in a bed.  
"Dad, I told you to stop" I remind him  
"Your dad called me with more intel. It helped us track down Clay and Shawna and arrest Stockheimer" Joe tells me  
"I managed to screw up Marcus's big heist, too, so"  
"You two kept working together, and you didn't tell me?" I ask  
"It isn't his fault. I did it to help you" He says  
"You getting stabbed and beaten is not helping me" I tell him out of concern  
"Look, I I I don't get to feel useful very much in here. So if I can help you for a change, I'm gonna want to be there for you. Just like you've been there for me all these years" He emotional tells me. Before he looks toward the door.  
"Hey there's my favorite girl" he says to whoever walks in the door. No. He would call her to visit. That would inconsiderate.  
"Henry, I thought I said if ever in this situation you have the kick the other kids butts" Hannah jokes out of breath.  
"And I told you I don't want to kick the other kids butts" He answers back.  
"I thought only family was allowed in here" I ask intending to insult her  
"She is family" Dad answers.  
"Barry" she acknowledges my existence  
"Jane Doe" I reply back  
"Really?" She asks  
"Yep. So dad you said Marcus had a big heist coming up? Do you know anything else about it? Dad, tell me who did this to you" I command  
"No, it doesn't matter, slugger" he says  
"But you said you want to help me. So help me" I beg  
"One of Marcus's boys. Julius" He answers and I begin to walk away.  
"Barry don't even think about it" Hannah warns.  
"Think about what?" I ask annoyed  
"Don't play dumb with me. I know what you're about to do" she says  
"Why do you even care? Whatever I do doesn't concern you anymore" I tell her immediately regretting every word.  
"Fine!" She replies and starts to walk away, but turns around, "Charlotte" she yells to me and leaves. Did she just...? No!.......maybe  
.....  
"What the hell?" Julius wonders after I break him out.  
"Evening, Julius" I greet  
"How'd I get out here?" He asks  
"You escaped" I answer him  
"They catch me trying to escape, they're gonna add five years to my sentence" He informs  
"Ten, actually. Unless you tell me where Marcus Stockheimer next job is gonna be. Oh! Guards will be here any second. I'd start blabbing" I tell him  
"Okay! Okay. It's a TDK and money transfer truck coming from the federal reserve bank in St. Louis. Supposed to be millions. Delivery is around 8:00. That's all I know. I swear" he admits and I go leaving him there to be caught, "Hey! Hey, what about me?"  
.........  
"Is there any way she can teleport out of this?" I ask  
"It's impossible. It's one-way glass. It's mirrored on the inside. No one dangerous is ever gonna get out of this thing again" Cisco tells us trying to make up for releasing Hartley.  
"Shawna. Clay left you. He's out there, and you're in here" I let her know  
"You know what the crazy thing is? I still love him" she confesses  
"Cisco" I say  
"Crazy is right" Caitlin inserts  
"Some people are worth being crazy for" I express and smile to myself  
"I'm sorry if I was a bit of a drunken mess the other night" Caitlin apologizes  
"Actually, it was pretty fun" I confess  
"Yeah, it was. You know what? I think everybody's been right about you and me. Both of us have been hung up on people for way too long. If what Cisco says is true, that Ronnie merged with Martin Stein, then he's not alive anymore. Time for me to move on. Find someone new to be crazy about" she admits  
"Alright, well. I'll see you tomorrow" I say  
"Yes, sure. Bye"  
"Bye"  
........  
"That's for you. I thought maybe you could help me out, if you're willing" I tell Iris dressed up as the Flash  
"This is about the breakout at Iron Heights" she says  
"Clay Parker. He's still on the loose, and we need to catch him" I tell her  
"Why are you giving this to me?" She wonders  
"'Cause you're a good reporter. And the only one I know" I admit  
"You're not the only one who's fast" She says  
.......  
Iris POV  
"Hey, what are you doing here?" I ask him  
"Hey" He greets  
"If you came to check on me, that is really sweet, but I think everything's gonna be okay" I tell him  
"I'm glad. Uh I actually am not here to see you" Barry admits  
"No?" I ask  
"No, I have a lunch date" Barry says. Wow that was fast. Wait till I tell Hannah.  
"With who?" I wonder  
"Ready" Linda says coming up to him and she is actually really pretty. Darn!  
"Hey" Barry says to her  
"Oh, hey, you're our new stringer, right?" Linda asks me  
"Yeah" I agree  
"I'm Linda Park. Sports" Linda introduces herself.  
"Iris West. How did you two meet?" I ask  
"Well, it's actually kind of a funny story" Linda begins  
"Yeah, I'll tell you later, alright? You ready?" Barry asks her  
"Yeah" Linda tells him  
"Okay. See ya. Have fun." I tell them but I didn't mean it. I immediately call Hannah once they're out of sight.  
"Hannah, code blue" I say into my phone.  
.......  
Barry's POV  
"So an actual date this time. So soon. Good for you" He insincerely says, " You didn't tell her your dad's in the slammer?" He jokes  
"No, I read in a magazine that that's a big turnoff" I reply  
"Smart" He laughs  
"Hey. You see this?" He ask me motioning to the Newspaper he has.  
"No. I haven't" I answer trying to conceal the truth  
"The Flash. I saw him once. In here. Watched him save Joe's life" He admits  
"Joe told me about that. I guess he was lucky" I say  
"Hm. Lucky Joe. The strangest thing. I get roughed up by Julius, end up in here. Next thing I know, Julius is caught trying to escape, claims The Flash broke him out. Won't be seeing Julius for a long time now. Guess I'm lucky too, huh?" He tells me  
"Dad. If I was The Flash, don't you think that you'd be the first to know about it?" I try to throw him off  
"Yeah. Well, if The Flash were my son, I'd tell him a few things. First off, I'd tell him it's a dangerous world, so be careful. Then I'd tell him he's a hero. And he's saving a lot of lives.  
But the most important thing for him to know, I feel, is that his father's proud of him" Dad confesses and I smile, "So tell me more about this girl, even though I am respectfully Team Hannah" he says and I laugh not knowing why that is a little comforting.


	10. Comes to the Light

3rd person POV

"Dude, you are a crime-fighting lady-slaying machine" Cisco says giving me a high five.  
"Oh, God, it was so cool. She was so cool. We're going on another date tonight" Barry excitedly tells them  
"Tonight? Really? Aren't you worried about moving too fast?" Caitlin warns  
"No. What do you mean? It's a second date" Barry looks at her.  
"No, no, no, no, I meant going too fast, hurrying"Caitlin clarifies  
"Look, I mean, you're fast, but there's fast, and then there's fast. Am I being subtle enough?" Cisco asks  
"You're really not" Barry tells him  
"Cisco's right" Caitlin agrees with him,"With your increased blood flow and increased heart rate, theoretically, your speed could cause you to-" she stops  
"You're gonna need to think about a lot of dead puppies. Like, we're talking a whole kennel. And baseball. Cold showers. You know what? Nuns" Cisco spouts off ideas.  
"Okay. It is just a second date" Barry emphasizes to them while also convincing myself.  
"A second date? With who?" Iris asks coming out of the blue  
"Uh, with Linda Park, The sports reporter"Barry lets her know before Cisco's phone rings  
"That's great. Linda seems great, and you're great. So Great" Iris unconvincing says  
"Hey, I gotta go. I gotta help out a friend"Cisco tells us  
"Everything okay? We just got here" Caitlin asks him  
"Yeah, I'll see you guys later" Cisco says and leaves Jitters.  
Quentin Quale was attacked near his lab at Concordance Research last night.  
There were several unsubstantiated reports of the so-called "Burning Man" in the area following the attacks. We suddenly hear on the TV.  
"Burning man? Caitlin, weren't you asking about him a few weeks ago?" Iris asks Caitlin  
"Wow, small world" Caitlin replies and walks to a table with Barry. While Iris takes out her cellphone.  
"Hello"  
"Hey, its Iris" she speaks into the phone.  
"Yeah I know. I have caller I.D. Iris"  
"No need to be snippy. I'm doing you a favor" she tells the person on the other end of the call.  
"And what favor is that?" the person asks  
"Code Blue" Iris says  
"What the hell is code blue?"  
............  
Hannah's POV  
"Are you sure we should be doing this Joe? Involving Cisco" I ask him out of concern.  
"You said he was one of the most trustworthy people you had ever met" Joe answers  
"Well yeah, but he's too close to Dr. Wells to look at this with an objective standpoint"  
"I asked you for help and you're pretty close to Wells" Joe replies  
"Not that close, and Cisco idolizes him, treats him like family. I have enough family problems of my own to deal with" I tell him.  
"I have a question about that. Okay I'm not judging or prying but-"  
"Barry told you everything and now you're curious" I say cutting him off.  
"Yeah. Pretty much. So your parents, the parents I've met countless times, their not your real parents are they?" He inquires  
"No. They adopted me"  
"So they don't...."  
"Nope. And I'm not going to tell them unless I have to" I answer his unfinished question.  
"Are you going to tell Barry?" He asks  
"Seems that way. He's never going to get over it, and I care about him too much" I confess  
"Well if it means anything I'm on your side. He had no right to look at your file without your permission" Joe says  
"You gave it to him" I reply.  
"If I didn't, he would have gotten it someway on his own. I just made sure he didn't get into trouble" He explains to me and I know what he's saying is true.  
"Hey" I greet Cisco as he arrives at the house.  
"Hey, man" Cisco greets Joe  
"Thanks for meeting us" Joe replies.  
"Sure. What exactly are we doing here? That's Barry's old house. Where his mother was murdered?" Cisco questions  
"I have a theory about who might have been involved in Barry's mother's death. I thought you, Hannah, and I could reexamine the crime scene, you could apply your technical expertise and help us prove who really did it" Joe explains.  
"For sure, we should get Dr. Wells and Caitlin in on this" Cisco mentions  
"No, we should keep this between us for the time being. If too many people know, Barry will find out, and I don't want to involve him until we know something definitive" Joe tells him and we walk up to the front door of Barry's old house. A middle age women opens the door to greet us.  
"Hello, ma'am. I'm Detective West. This is Cisco Ramon, and Hannah Charles" Joe introduces us  
"Oh, please, it's Sherry, like the drink. What can I do for you, Detective?" She asks Joe looking at him  
"I don't know if you were aware, but there was a homicide in this residence approximately 15 years ago" Joe tell her.  
"Oh, I know" she replies as if living in a house a woman was murdered in was the norm.  
"We've reopened the investigation. Do you mind if we come in and take another look around?" Joe asks  
"Oh, not at all"  
"Thank you. Do you live alone?"  
"Yes, I'm divorced" she say basically screaming I'm desperate.  
.....  
Barry's POV  
"Well, it appears letting Ronnie roam free is no longer an option" Dr. Wells states  
"He's not even Ronnie anymore. He's Martin Stein walking around in Ronnie's body, like a vampire" Caitlin says  
"Is there a reason that Stein's brain is in control of Ronnie's body, not the other way around?" I ask  
"Simple Darwinism, I suspect. A brand-new organism will select the strongest parts of itself in order to survive. Survival of the fittest. In this case, Ronnie's body, Stein's mind. In any event, he badly hurt an innocent man, and we have hunted meta-humans for less. Caitlin, we need to know that you're on board with what needs to be done here" Dr. Wells reasons  
"How do we find him?" Caitlin asks  
"Quentin Quale, the scientist that Ronnie attacked, is a former colleague of Martin Stein. If Martin is indeed in control of Ronnie's body, he may be trying to figure out exactly what's happening to him" Dr. Wells says  
"What do we know about him? I don't even know what Stein looks like" I ask  
"Martin Stein" Wells says and pulls a picture  
"That's Stein?" I ask.  
"It is." He answers  
"I've seen him before" I realize  
"When?" Caitlin asks  
"On the train, the day the accelerator exploded" I say  
.......  
"Of course I've heard of S.T.A.R. Labs. Martin was always vocal about the competition" Mrs. Stein tells me.  
"S.T.A.R. Labs is actually helping the CCPD looking into your husband's disappearance, Mrs. Stein" I inform  
"Oh, please. Call me Clarissa" she offers  
"The Conway Prize for Scientific Advancement" Dr. Wells says looking at the award  
"Martin was very proud of that one" she tells me.  
"I'd always hoped to win one of these myself. Oh, and look at that. He won it three times." Wells continues  
Takes a special kind of person to make Dr. Wells jealous" I say  
"Well, Martin had a talent for making people jealous. Even me. I sometimes think Martin loved his theorems and experiments more than he did me" She confesses  
"I'm sure that's not true" Caitlin comforts   
"And you haven't heard from your husband since he disappeared" I ask  
"No" she answers  
"Mrs. Stein, could I show you a photograph? Have you seen this person before?"I ask showing her a picture of Ronnie.  
"Yes, I have. Who is he?" She asks  
"Um He's just a person of interest in your husband's case. When did you see him?" Caitlin questions  
"I started getting the feeling that someone was watching me, and sometimes I still do. And about a month after Martin disappeared, that young man showed up here" Mrs. Stein admits  
........  
"So it appears Martin Stein and Ronnie Raymond have something in common besides sharing a body. They both feel the need to protect the women they love" Dr. Wells says  
"Clarissa said she feels like she's being watched" I remind them  
"Well, then, this has all the makings of a stakeout" Dr. Wells states  
"But Barry's got a date tonight" Caitlin tries to get me out of working.  
"I'll cancel" I insist  
"No! No, go.If we need you here, something tells me we can get you back in a hurry" Dr. Wells surprisingly lets me go.  
............  
Hannah's POV  
"I'm not picking up anything. Not even with The Super Light" Cisco says as he scans the living room.  
"Super Light?" Joe wonders  
"It's a multi-spectrum, violet laser-enhanced scanner that detects molecular schisms in the 600 megavolt range" I explain  
"But I figured "Super Light" was easier to say. How did you know all that" Cisco asks me.  
"Just because I might not have a degree in Engineering doesn't mean I don't know things" I explain  
"Right, but what does it tell you?" Joe says bringing up back to the issue at hand.  
"Nothing we didn't already know about that night" Cisco admits  
"Okay, keep looking" I say nicely  
"Ahem"Sherry tries to get our attention  
"Uh, can I get you boys something to drink? Water? Soda? Wine?"She asks totally ignoring me.  
"Uh, we're fine. Thank you" Joe politely thanks  
"Well, if you change your mind, I've been told my strawberry daiquiris are sinful" She says and leaves the room.  
"She totally ignored me. Maybe I wanted a strawberry daiquiri" I mutter  
"I will not judge you" Cisco says to Joe.  
"As if Joe would go for that tr-"  
"Hey! Nice words only" Joe insists, Okay, Barry's mother's body was found here, knife beside her, blood spatter on the wall belonged to Nora"  
"Joe, I think I just think maybe it's been too long, and everything's different" Cisco explains  
"Except that mirror" I realize  
"How do you know that?" Joe asks  
"I saw in a picture Barry has"  
"Sherry must have bought it at the estate sale" Joe guesses  
"Oh, my God. Silver nitrate" Cisco says  
"The compound used in photography? I ask  
"It was often used to back vintage mirrors. If there were two speedsters there that night, the sparks from their movement would have generated enough flashes to actually expose images onto the silver nitrate" Cisco tells us.  
"You saying what I think you're saying?" Joe asks  
"This mirror might contain photographs of what actually happened that night" I say taking the word from Cisco's mouth  
.........  
Barry's POV  
"Hey! You look great"  
"Well, I have a big date tonight, and I kind of wanted to impress the guy"  
"I think I can speak for that guy and say that he is super impressed"  
"So is this your place? It's awesome"  
"Yeah. Well, not entirely. I grew up here. Is it really lame that I live at home?"  
"Not at all. I still live with my parents"  
"Really?"  
"No. That would be so lame"  
"All right, so here's the plan. First, a dinner reservation at Paper Clip. Then a round of mini-golf, followed by Mal Duncan, who is playing at an underground jazz club. But my foster dad has a connection there, so he hooked us up. And if you're not sick of me by then, we can get froyo"  
.......  
Hannah's POV  
"I sent Sherry to the movies" Joe announces  
"Trust me, the best show in town is going to be in here tonight" Cisco says  
"So you're telling me you can get actual photographs from this thing?" Joe asks  
"The science is solid" I tell him  
"It works exactly like an old film camera. I developed the mirror backing, and fortunately for us, the lightning went off about ten times that night" Cisco explains  
"Multiple exposures" Joe figures out  
"Now you're getting it. Cisco went ahead and enhanced them digitally and, just for kicks, as he put it, decided to extrapolate a 3-D hologram from the original 2-D" I say  
"Cisco"  
"Lights. Camera. Action" And the show begins  
"Wow" I say amazed  
"Can you play it again? Slower? There, there. You see that? Huh. Next frame. This wallpaper's new" Joe peels back the new.  
"Oh, man.Is that blood?" Cisco asks  
"Yep. But the question is whose" I say  
"We had a husband who was holding the same weapon that killed his wife. We weren't looking for any other suspects. That blood belongs to one of the two speedsters that was here that night. Maybe the one that killed Nora" Joe surmises  
"I'll get a sample kit" Cisco goes  
"We got you" Joe says and looks at me.  
........  
3rd Person POV  
"Linda, Hey! So I hope it's cool that I came by" Barry ask  
"Yeah, of course. I was just writing a column on the Combines"  
"Oh, sweet, how are they doing?" He inquires  
"Well, they were up two goals to none last night, but then they blew it" Linda says alluding to something else  
"Wait, we're not talking about hockey anymore, are we?" Barry asks  
"No. We're not" She states  
"Look, I am so, so sorry that I left you like that. I'm I'm not that kind of guy" He explain  
"Well, let me tell you what kind of girl I am. I work in a hard business, and I work hard in it. And so I'm very picky about who I choose to spend my free time with. I chose to spend some of it with you, so tell me, Barry Allen, did I make the right choice?" She asks him  
"Yeah, you did. It just that something important came up. And not more important than you, it's just sort of, like, an equal level of importance - type situation - And And usually I can do both, um, but it's just that I have to, um I have to go to work. I'm so sorry. It's a police emergency. Can we talk later tonight?" He asks knowing he only has a slim chance with her  
"I'm not going anywhere, yet"  
"Okay, thanks" He says and rushes out  
"Hey!" Iris greets  
"Hey!Sorry, gotta go" Barry says before leaving.  
"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Linda looks to Iris  
"Yeah, sure" she says faking a smile  
"So, um, you and Barry are like BFFs, right?" Linda asks  
"The best of BFFs" Iris states  
"Has he ever actually dated anyone before? Because he's simultaneously surprisingly good at it and really, really bad at it" Linda jokes  
"He's Barry" Iris uses his name as an excuse  
"What was his last girlfriend like?" Linda wonders  
"Hannah. She went to school with us. Growing up we were like the three musketeers. I don't know, maybe he's just not ready yet" Iris says trying to put doubt in Linda's head  
"What do you mean?" She asks  
"You know, I mean, he was really into her, followed her around like a lost puppy for most of High School. You know, he just has a lot of bottled up feelings so yeah, maybe just give him time" Iris strategically expresses  
"Sure" Linda sadly agrees  
.........  
Barry's POV  
"There he is. Looks like the tracker Barry placed on him worked" Caitlin says, "Professor Stein?"  
"Ugh, I told you to stay away from me" Stein/Ronnie reminds  
"And I will, but there's someone else who wants to talk to you"  
"Martin? Do you know who I am?" Clarissa carefully asks  
"Clarissa. Is it really you? I don't know. I hear the other inside of me. He wants to go home to her. But we can't. I want to be me again"  
"Martin what's my favorite color?" She asks him  
"You could you could never decide, so you chose stripes. You shouldn't see me like this"  
"I see you. I see you, Martin. These people can help you. They say they can. Please let them" she begs  
"Well, we got him. Them. Now what?" I ask  
"Well, Stein clearly thinks he can separate himself from Ronnie's body using nuclear fission" Dr. Wells states  
"What do you think?" I ask him  
"What do I think? Is it possible? Theoretically. But splitting an atom and splitting a man are two very different things" Wells says  
"I don't suppose it's necessary to point out you're all staring?" Stein/Ronnie tells us and we awkwardly look away.  
"Our apologies" Dr. Wells offers  
"It is remarkable. I feel clearer than I have since the accident. What did you give me?" Stein/Ronnie asks  
"A cocktail of anti-psychotics, depressants, and mood stabilizers. The same formula used to treat dissociative identity disorders" Caitlin explains to him  
"I assume this was your idea? Very clever, Cait" They say using her nickname  
"Don't call me that. Please" She begs  
"I apologize" They say  
"We'd like to run some tests on you, if you don't mind" Caitlin tells them  
"Of course, Dr. Snow"  
"Hey, I'm so sorry I had to run out like that again. Uh, police business" I say once I pick up my phone.  
"That's funny, because I just called the station, and they said that you had taken some personal time. I'm not mad, Barry, I swear.  
But I do think that we should call it" she says  
"W Wait, can we talk about this? What do you mean?" I ask  
"Look, I know how hard and weird it is trying to date someone new when you're still not over someone" She tells me.  
"What are you talking about?"  
"You and Hannah" she states  
"Me and Hannah, we're not - Who told you that I was hung up on Hannah?" I ask before calling Iris.  
"Hey" I greet Iris  
"Hey, what's up?" She answers  
"Uh, why would you tell Linda that I had feelings for Hannah?" I angrily ask  
"I did not say that. Wait, did I?"  
"Okay, Iris,this isn't funny. I mean, I like this girl" I explain  
"I know, it's sickening" she says  
"Wow! You know to right now it sort of feels like you don't want to be with Linda" I say  
"I have wanted nothing more than for you to meet someone who is amazing- "  
"And I did! And you went out of your way to convince her that I was unavailable" I tell her  
"You cut me. Not very nice. As I was saying I have wanted nothing more than for you to meet someone who is amazing and you did. Hannah is amazing and perfect for you yet you dumped her. Look, I'm really sorry but I'm not" she says and renders me speechless.  
"Wait, do you want me to talk to her?" Iris suddenly ask as if we were not having this intense conversion.  
"No, no, no. Absolutely not. Don't talk to her. I'll figure this out on my own. Just stay out of it" I tell her  
"Fine" she replies  
"Okay. I'll see you later" and I hang up returning to the Stein/Ronnie situation.  
........  
Hannah's POV  
"Yes, yes, yes! See? We got two different blood samples" I tell them  
"One for each speedster" Joe guesses  
"That's right" I agree  
"One is A-positive, and the other one's AB-negative super rare. I'm gonna run them both through the CCPD criminal database to see if I get any matches" Cisco says  
"Can you run them against a specific person?" Joe asks  
"Yeah, sure, if we have something to match it to. Who are we looking at?" Cisco wonders  
"Dr. Harrison Wells" Joe tells him ripping off the bandaid  
"I thought we were trying to solve Barry's mom's murder"  
"We are. And we're asking you to keep this between us" I gently say  
"You think Dr. Wells killed Barry's mom? No way. He didn't even know Barry then. Why would he kill his mom?" Cisco vocalizes his thoughts.  
"I don't know yet. But I do know that Wells keeps secrets. And this may be one of them" Joe tries to persuade  
"Dr.Wells is a great man. I was nothing when he gave me a job, a chance to change my life. He has helped so many people. He's not a murderer" Cisco tries to reason with us  
"Cisco, I'm a cop. I'm good at reading people, so I know I can trust you with my suspicion.  
When I go talk to the family and friends of a murder suspect, somebody I know is guilty, and I tell them the person they love is a killer, guess what they all say. That's not the person I know" Joe says to him  
"I think I'm done being a cop for today" Cisco tells us  
....  
Barry's POV  
"Are you comfortable?" Caitlin asks  
"A little warm" they say  
"Ronnie used to always run warm" she says  
"Not that warm"  
"Can I talk to him?" Caitlin asks  
"I'm sorry, my dear. I'm not sure it works like that. I can feel him though. I have these memories. Memories that I know aren't my own. One is particularly strong. Piedmont State Park? It's famous for the Hudson Falls. I know that I've never been, but I can remember those waterfalls perfectly" They recall  
"That's where Ronnie proposed to me" Caitlin remembers  
"He loves you very much. That I can feel" They comfort  
"Dr. Snow, can we see you for a minute?" Dr. Wells calls, "You okay?" He asks  
"Yeah, it's just confusing" she confesses  
"What isn't confusing is what's happening to him now. Ronnie's body is rejecting Stein's atoms like a host rejecting a parasite. The resulting instability is causing an exothermic reaction. I worry if his temperature continues to rise, it'll set off a chain reaction" Dr. Wells tells her  
"And then what happens? She asks  
"He could go nuclear"  
"Ronnie. Not Ronnie. Martin Stein" Cisco greets uncertainly when he enters the lab  
"Cisco Ramon. Your colleagues are in the next room, not so subtly discussing my condition"  
"That's not freaky at all" Cisco says  
"It seems Ronnie's fight with The Flash has exacerbated the Firestorm Matrix. It's unstable. Exponentially increasing the rate of fission inside his body" Dr. Wells explains  
"Well, how long does he have?" I ask  
"If his temperature keeps rising at the current pace, no more than a couple of hours" Dr. Wells answers  
"But you can fix it, right? I mean, you you can separate them before it's too late" I asks  
"Any attempt we make to separate the two of them could be catastrophic a nuclear explosion. And a nuclear explosion of this magnitude would level this entire city. Unless" Wells stops  
"Unless what?" I asks  
"Unless the host body were no longer functional" Dr. Wells says  
"You want to kill Ronnie?" Cisco asks  
"No, I don't want to kill Ronnie. But in this scenario, Ronnie is the host body" Wells expresses  
"If you kill Ronnie, you kill Stein. That's two people" Cisco tells him  
"I don't know how else to stop it. And my guess is that if Ronnie and Professor Stein knew the consequences that we were all facing, they would make the same decision. It's two lives for millions" Wells states  
"Can you give us a minute?" Caitlin says  
"I've already lost Ronnie once. I'm not going to do it again. You said we have a couple of hours. Use them" Caitlin orders  
"Dr. Wells, you don't really think we should kill Ronnie, do you?" Cisco questions  
"Stay here, Cisco" Wells commands  
"Hey. Sorry" Barry greets Stein/Ronnie  
"Um, can I get you anything or A glass of Chateau Haut-Brion Pessac-Leognan 1982 might be nice. Or maybe it wouldn't. This body's taste buds would obviously be different from my own. Perhaps I'm now a light beer man" They say  
"There are worse things to be"  
"You mean like a living nuclear bomb?"  
"You know" I say  
"Unstable nuclear fission was always a danger in the transmutation process. Plus, you all argue very loudly" They tell me  
"I'm sorry" I apologize for us all," But my friends are gonna figure out how to fix this, I promise"  
"I remember meeting you, Mr. Allen, on the train. You were headed to S.T.A.R. Labs with a girl but not your girlfriend. Because you weren't over an old girlfriend" Stein recalls  
"Yeah. I'm not sure that I have any girlfriend" Barry admits  
"You know, Einstein was not only brilliant, he had a great sense of humor. How did it go? "Any man who drives safely while kissing a pretty girl is not giving the pretty girl the attention she deserves. If I learned anything this past year, life's too short not to live" Stein tells me.  
......  
"Hey" I greet Linda  
"What are you doing here? I gave you an out"  
"I don't want an out" Well, what I said was partially true.  
"I don't wanna date someone who's into someone else"  
"I'm not into anyone else. I'm gonna prove it to you. This is the Naga Jolokia or the ghost pepper. It is the world's hottest pepper measuring 401. 5 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. If you do not agree to go on another date with me, I will eat it right here, right now" I dare myself  
"You're bluffing" She tells me  
"I never bluff" And I almost bite into the pepper.  
"Okay stop" she says before I bite.  
"Oh, thank you. Okay. I won't let my job. Or how bad my mouth is burning right now come between us" I say really hoping that everything is good now.  
"Barry. I'm not going to go out with you even if you did eat the pepper. You're still in love with someone else. I can see it in your eyes when you look at me. Its like you're there but part of you isn't. I'm doing us both a favor and ending whatever this is before we become too invested. So go get the girl, Spice Champion of Central City"  
I don't know why but I listen to Linda and ran to Hannah's apartment. I knocked and waited for her to open the door.  
"Barry? Oh my god who died?" She frantically asked me  
"What? No one died. Why would you even ask that?"  
"Why else would you deliberately come to talk to me?" She asks and it hurt a little that she thinks I don't care.  
"Look. I spent half of my childhood and the rest of my life having people not believe me about my dad being innocent. No one believed me except you, and I have always felt that I could count on you for any and everything. You were my rock, Hannah. But when you weren't who you said you were, it felt like I lost the one piece of stability in my life. Like I lost my grip on reality and I felt that I couldn't trust you. But it turns out you're still my rock and I need you more than you need me. I'm sorry for digging into your personal past. I have no bounds and I know it was wrong. So there's things you don't want to tell me, fine. I don't care that you have secrets as long as you never lie to me and know that you can tell me anything. So I'm standing here, begging for you to please take me back. Cause at the end of the day, I don't care what your real name is as long as I can call you mine" I pour my heart out to her and watch her expressionless face. I stand there waiting for what feels like an eternity, but actually about 15 seconds.  
"Two strikes" she finally says  
"What?" I ask kind of confused.  
"You have have two strikes. Three and you're out" she says while a small smile forms on her lips. She's making baseball references. Good sign.  
"Does this mean you're taking me back" I ask full of hope.  
"I'll probably regret it later but sure why not" she jokes.  
"Wait are being serious right now or joking?" I ask unsure  
"A little bit of both but we can talk about that later because apparently a professor who's Ronnie but not Ronnie needs your help" she tells me.  
"Needs our help" I say before picking her up and running to S.T.A.R. Labs.  
........  
"Hey. Anything?" I ask  
"I have an idea. It's a bit of a Hail Mary, but Cisco and I are going to give it a try" Dr. Wells says  
"Thank you" Caitlin tells him  
"I'll get Professor Stein" I tell them  
"Looking for the professor?" Cisco asks, "Yeah, he's gone"  
...  
"You guys almost done?" I ask  
"Hang on. Hang on" Cisco says  
"I found Stein. He's in the Badlands. Middle of nowhere, 30 miles outside of Central City" she informs  
"Minimum safe distance" Cisco realizes  
"He's sacrificing himself" Hannah says  
"How much time does he have left?" I ask but do receive an answer  
"And We're done" Dr. Wells states  
"What is it?" I ask  
"This is a Quantum Splicer"  
"Will it work to separate them?" Caitlin asks  
"We'll know in 12 minutes. Now, Barry, even you can't outrun a nuclear blast, so you get this device to Professor Stein, and you get out of there as fast as you can" Dr. Wells cautions  
"What are you doing?" I ask Caitlin  
"I'm going with you" Caitlin says defiantly  
"No, you're not" I tell her  
"It's too dangerous!" Dr. Wells mentions  
"Barry doesn't know how to operate the splicer" Caitlin rebuts  
"Cisco's gonna talk me through it" I defend myself  
"There's not enough time. Let's go" Caitlin says  
"Go!" Dr. Wells orders "What was that?" He asks after hearing beeping  
"Uh, comm system's on the fritz. I'll be right back. Hannah come with me" Cisco asks her  
"Cisco. What is it?" Hannah wonders  
"I'm not proud of it, but I ran the samples. One wasn't identified, and the other had a match" Cisco admits  
"Cisco, you're hesitating. Was it Wells?" I try my best to whisper  
"No, it's not Dr. Wells. I told you and Joe he has nothing to do with this. But I know whose blood it is. It's Barry's"  
"We already know Barry was there that night" Hannah reminds  
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You don't understand. The sample had high levels of P16.  
That's a protein that builds up in the blood as we get older. And these levels were way too high for an 11-year-old. This sample was from Barry as an adult" Cisco tells her looking bewildered  
"Bull shit"  
......  
"Professor Stein!" I call to him  
"What are you doing here? You can't be here! Get her out of here now!"  
"Please, look, Ronnie's still in there somewhere" Caitlin says  
"All those people Clarissa I won't let them die! It's better I end this now" Stein says  
"We can separate you! We can stop the explosion"  
"How?" He questions  
"A Quantum Splicer. It's a fission device designed to bombard your atoms with as much energy as they experienced in the particle accelerator explosion. It should be enough to separate you"  
"Please, Professor, you have nothing left to lose" I say to him  
"Ronnie, if you're in there, I love you" Caitlin says and Stein takes the splicer  
"I look forward to meeting you in person, Professor" Caitlin says  
"It's not working! He's not gonna make it. He's gonna blow" I say through the comms.  
"Get out of there. Barry, get out of there now!" I hear Wells ordering  
"Caitlin, we have to go" I tell her before running away from the explosion.


End file.
